Measurement processing device, measurement processing method, measurement processing program, and method for manufacturing structure

ABSTRACT

A measurement processing device used for an x-ray inspection apparatus that detects an x-ray passing through a specimen with a detection unit to sequentially inspect a plurality of specimens on the basis of an acquired transmission image, includes a setting unit that sets a region to be inspected on a portion of the specimen; a determination unit that determines the non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected by using a transmission image of the x-ray that passed through the region to be inspected; a correction unit that performs a correction on the region to be inspected on the basis of a determination result by the determination unit; and a display control unit that displays the corrected region to be inspected corrected by the correction unit.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/507,999, filed Mar. 1, 2017, which is a National Stage Entry ofinternational application No. PCT/JP2014/073096, filed Sep. 2, 2014.This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/118,296, filed Aug. 30, 2018, which is a Division of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/446,455, filed Mar. 1, 2017, which is acontinuation of international application No. PCT/JP2014/073097 filedSep. 2, 2014. The disclosures of the above-referenced priorityapplications are herein expressly incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a measurement processing device, ameasurement processing method, a measurement processing program, and amethod for manufacturing structure.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a technique is known for performing a comparison withthree-dimensional design data for a specimen and an evaluation of thethickness and internal defects of a specimen by using an x-raymeasurement apparatus for the purpose of non-destructive internalinspection (for example, Patent Literature 1).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent No. 4131400B

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, there is a problem in that, in case that a position, shape, orthe like of an evaluation region according to the inspection progress isnot obtained, this can lead to a decrease in inspection precision.

Solution to Problem

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a measurementprocessing device used for an x-ray inspection apparatus that detects anx-ray passing through a specimen with a detection unit to sequentiallyinspect a plurality of specimens on the basis of an acquiredtransmission image comprises a setting unit that sets a region to beinspected on a portion of the specimen; a determination unit thatdetermines the non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected by usinga transmission image of the x-ray that passed through the region to beinspected; a correction unit that performs a correction on the region tobe inspected on the basis of a determination result by the determinationunit; and a display control unit that displays the corrected region tobe inspected corrected by the correction unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the first aspect,after inspecting the plurality of specimens, the display control unitdisplays the non-defectiveness of the plurality of specimenscorresponding to the region to be inspected or the corrected region tobe inspected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the secondaspect, the display control unit displays a change in thenon-defectiveness of the region to be inspected changing with eachinspection for the plurality of specimens.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the third aspect,the determination unit calculates a plurality of different non-defectivefactor parameters from shape information acquired on the basis of thetransmission image of the x-ray for non-defectiveness, and thedetermination unit performs a non-defectiveness determination on thebasis of the different non-defective factor parameters.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the secondaspect, the display control unit displays and makes a display mode ofthe corrected region to be inspected differ from a display mode of theother locations.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the secondaspect, the setting unit can set a region to be inspected in a pluralityof locations of the specimen; and the display control unit displaysside-by-side displays of the non-defectiveness for similarly shapedportions among the plurality of regions to be inspected.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat the measurement processing device according to any one of the firstthrough fifth aspects is further provided with: an accepting unit thataccepts an external operation; and a resetting unit that resets thecorrected region to be inspected to a portion of the specimen as a newregion to be inspected when an external operation is accepted by theaccepting unit.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat the measurement processing device according to any one of the firstthrough the fifth aspects is further provided with: a resetting unitthat automatically resets the corrected region to be inspected to aportion of the specimen as a new region to be inspected according to thecorrection by the correction unit.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat the measurement processing device according to any one of the firstthrough eighth aspects is further provided with: a shape informationacquisition unit that acquires shape information for the specimen withregard to at least a region outside of the region to be inspected; andan additional setting unit that additionally sets a new region to beinspected on a portion of the specimen on the basis of the shapeinformation.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat in the measurement processing device according to the ninth aspect,the determination unit determines the non-defectiveness of the outsideregion by using the shape information, and selects a region in which thenon-defectiveness exceeds a predetermined allowable range from among theoutside regions; and the additional setting unit additionally sets theregion in which the non-defectiveness exceeds the predeterminedallowable range as the new region to be inspected.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that the measurement processing device according to the ninthor tenth aspect is further provided with: an information storage controlunit that stores information regarding the additional setting by theadditional setting unit.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, it is desirablethat the measurement processing device according to the seventh oreighth aspects is further provided with: a history storage control unitthat stores history data regarding the corrected region to be inspectedreset by the resetting unit; and that the display control unit displayshistory data for the corrected region to be inspected stored by thehistory storage control unit superimposed on an image representing thespecimen.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that the measurement processing device according to any one ofthe first through the twelfth aspects is further provided with: adetermination result storage control unit that stores history dataregarding a determination result of non-defectiveness by thedetermination unit; and that the correction unit performs the correctionof the region to be inspected on the basis of history data of adetermination result regarding non-defectiveness stored by thedetermination result storage control unit.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to thethirteenth aspect: the specimen is a cast item; and the display controlunit displays history data of a determination result regardingnon-defectiveness stored by the determination result storage controlunit, and a replacement time for a mold used when manufacturing aspecimen.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to any oneof the first through the fourteenth aspects: the setting unit applies athree dimensional lattice configured by unit lattices smaller in sizethan the region to be inspected to at least a setting of the region tobe inspected, and sets a latticed region to be inspected to a portion ofthe specimen; the determination unit determines the non-defectiveness ofthe latticed region to be inspected; the correction unit performscorrection of the latticed region to be inspected; and the displaycontrol unit displays a corrected latticed region to be inspectedcorrected by the correction unit.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to thefifteenth aspect: the determination unit determines non-defectiveness ofthe latticed region to be inspected per unit lattice; and the correctionunit performs correction of the latticed region to be inspected per unitlattice.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to thesixteenth aspect, wherein: in case that a lattice whosenon-defectiveness of the latticed region to be inspected has beendetermined to exceed a predetermined allowable range by thedetermination unit exists in the outer peripheral portion of thelatticed region to be detected, the correction unit corrects thelatticed region to be inspected so as to include a lattice positionedaround the outer peripheral portion in the latticed region to beinspected.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to thesixteenth aspect: the correction unit corrects the latticed region to beinspected to delete from the latticed region to be inspected a latticewhose non-defectiveness of the latticed region to be inspected has beendetermined to be within a predetermined allowable range by thedetermination unit.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that the measurement processing device according to theseventeenth or eighteenth aspect is further provided with: aninformation storage control unit that stores information regarding thecorrection by the correction unit.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing unit according to theseventeenth or eighteenth aspect: the setting unit can change the sizeof a unit lattice in the latticed region to be inspected.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to any oneof the first through twentieth aspects: the specimen includes a firstand a second specimen having mutually similar compositions; thedetermination unit determines whether the non-defectiveness of theregion to be inspected is within a predetermined allowable range; thedetermination unit changes the predetermined allowable range on thebasis of a determination result of non-defectiveness by thedetermination unit for the first specimen; and the determination unitdetermines the non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected of thesecond specimen on the basis of the changed predetermined allowablerange.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the measurement processing device according to thetwenty-first aspect: the determination unit stores the determinationresult of non-defectiveness by the determination unit for the firstspecimen, and an inspection result for the first specimen when thepredetermined allowable range was changed on the basis of anon-defective determination result for the first specimen; and

the correction unit corrects a corrected region to be inspected on thesecond specimen on the basis of the predetermined allowable range andthe inspection results on the basis of the first inspection results, andthe inspection results for the second specimen.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, ameasurement processing method comprises: setting a region to beinspected to a portion of a specimen to detect an x-ray passing throughthe specimen with a detection unit to sequentially inspect a pluralityof specimens on the basis of an acquired transmission image; determiningthe non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected by using atransmission image of the x-ray that passed through the region to beinspected; performing a correction of the region to be inspected on thebasis of a result of the determination; and displaying the correctedregion to be inspected that was corrected.

According to a twenty-forth aspect of the present invention, ameasurement processing program causing a computer to execute comprises:setting processing for setting a region to be inspected to a portion ofa specimen to detect an x-ray passing through the specimen with adetection unit to sequentially inspect a plurality of specimens on thebasis of an acquired transmission image; determination processing fordetermining the non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected by usinga transmission image of the x-ray that passed through the region to beinspected; correction processing for performing a correction of theregion to be inspected on the basis of a determination result by thedetermination processing; and display control processing for displayingthe corrected region to be inspected that was corrected by thecorrection processing.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, a methodfor manufacturing structures comprises creating design informationregarding the shape of a structure; creating the structure on the basisof the design information; acquiring shape information by measuring theshape of the created structure by using the x-ray inspection apparatusaccording to any one of the first through twenty-first aspects andcomparing the acquired shape information and the design information.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the method for manufacturing structures according tothe twenty-fifth aspect further comprises: performing refabrication ofthe structure by implementation on the basis of comparison resultsbetween the shape information and the design information.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, it isdesirable that in the method for manufacturing structures according tothe twenty-sixth aspect: the refabrication of the structure comprisesperforming creation of the structure again on the basis of the designinformation.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, a corrected region to be inspectedcan be displayed based on a determination result of non-defectiveness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a figure illustrating the configuration of an x-ray inspectionapparatus and its inspection processing device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a primary element configurationof an x-ray inspection apparatus and an inspection processing deviceaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a figure illustrating an example of an evaluation region setwhen inspecting a cylinder block of an engine as a specimen.

FIG. 4 is a figure illustrating a lattice grid.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D are figures schematically illustrating in twodimensions the setting of a grid converted evaluation region.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are figures illustrating a grid converted evaluationregion set in three dimensions.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are figures schematically illustrating the selection ofa sliced plane for the grid converted evaluation region.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are figures schematically illustrating the selection ofa sliced plane for a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are figures illustrating an example of a sliced planeand a sliced range selected when inspecting a cylinder block for anengine as the specimen.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are figures schematically illustrating the selectionof a sliced plane in a case where the evaluation region has a settablerange.

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are figures schematically illustrating theselection of a sliced plane in a case where the evaluation region has asettable range.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are figures illustrating an example of a sliced planeand a sliced range selected after taking into consideration the settablerange of the evaluation region when inspecting a cylinder block for anengine as the specimen.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are figures schematically illustrating a case whereina plurality of grid converted evaluation regions are grouped.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are figures illustrating an example of a sliced planeand a sliced range selected when inspecting a cylinder block for anengine as the specimen.

FIG. 15 is a figure illustrating an example of classification accordingto cluster analysis.

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are figures schematically illustrating theprocessing at the time of cluster analysis.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are figures schematically illustrating the processingat the time of cluster analysis.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are figures schematically illustrating the processingat the time of cluster analysis.

FIGS. 19A and 19B are figures schematically illustrating the positionmatching of a specimen and a placement stage.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are figures illustrating grouping of evaluationregions according to the ratio of their transmission image.

FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate a sliced plane and a sliced range selectedwhen inspecting a cylinder block based on the results of a simulation.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating the processing performed prior toinspection.

FIG. 23 is a figure illustrating an example of a jig for placementprepared at the time of inspection.

FIG. 24 is a figure illustrating the condition at the time of inspectionof the cylinder block for an engine.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are figures illustrating the condition at the time ofinspection of the cylinder block of an engine accompanying changes ofthe placement orientation.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in inspectionprocessing.

FIGS. 27A, 27B, 27C and 27D are figures schematically illustrating anexample of an artifact and a summary of artifact removal processing.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in evaluation regionupdate processing.

FIG. 29 is a figure illustrating an example of a non-defect level setfrom volume ratio non-defect level and thickness non-defect level.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in evaluation regionanalysis processing.

FIGS. 31A, 31B, 31C and 31D are figures schematically illustratingregarding generation of data for a corrected evaluation region.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in evaluation regionchange processing.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in broad regionanalysis processing.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating the behavior in evaluation regionaddition processing.

FIG. 35 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration ofa structure manufacturing system according to the embodiments.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of a structuremanufacturing system.

FIG. 37 is a figure illustrating the entire configuration of a mechanismused to provide a program product.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An x-ray inspection apparatus and an inspection processing device for anx-ray inspection apparatus will be described according to one embodimentof the present invention with reference to the drawings. The x-rayinspection apparatus non-destructively acquires internal information(for example, the internal configuration) of a specimen by emitting anx-ray at the specimen and detecting the transmitted x-ray passingthrough the specimen. The present embodiment will be described giving anexample wherein the x-ray inspection apparatus is used as an internalinspection device to acquire internal information about a cast item suchas an engine block and perform non-defect management or the liketherefor.

Note that the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 is not limited to a castitem such as an engine block, and may also acquire shape information forthe internal structure of a joint part for an item formed of plasticwhen respective members have been joined using adhesive or welding, andmay perform inspection therefor.

Furthermore the present embodiment is for describing the meaning of theinvention in detail for understanding, and does not limit the presentinvention as long as it is not specifically designated.

FIG. 1 is a drawing schematically illustrating an example of aconfiguration of an x-ray inspection apparatus 100 according to thepresent embodiment. Note that for convenience of description, acoordinate system composed of an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis is setis illustrated in the drawing.

The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 is provided with an inspectionprocessing device 1, an x-ray source 2, a placement unit 3, a detector4, a control device 5, a display monitor 6, and an input operation unit11. Note that the inspection processing device 1 being configuredseparately from the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 is included in oneaspect of the present invention. The x-ray source 2, placement unit 3,and detector 4 are stored inside a chassis (not illustrated in thedrawing) disposed so as to be substantially horizontal in the XZ planeon top of the floor of a factory or the like. The chassis includes leadas a material so that x-rays do not leak to the outside.

The x-ray source 2 emits x-rays in a fan shape (a so-called “fan beam”)in the Z axis+direction along an optical axis Zr parallel to the Z axiswith the emission point Q illustrated in FIG. 1 as the vertex, inaccordance with control by the control device 5. The emission point Qcorresponds to the focal point of the x-ray source 2. That is, theoptical axis Zr connects the emission point Q, which is the focal pointof the x-ray source 2, with the center of the image capturing region ofthe detector 4 described hereinafter. Note that for the x-ray source 2,instead of one emitting x-rays in a fan shape, one emitting x-rays in acone shape (a so-called “cone beam”) is also included in one aspect ofthe present invention. The x-ray source 2 can emit, for example, atleast one of: an approximately 50 eV ultrasoft x-ray, an approximately0.1 to 2 keV soft x-ray, an approximately 2 to 20 keV x-ray, and anapproximately 20 to 100 keV hard x-ray, and additionally, an x-rayhaving an energy of 100 keV or greater.

The placement unit 3 is provided with a placement stage 30 on which aspecimen S is placed, and a manipulator unit 36 made from a rotationdrive unit 32, a Y axis movement unit 33, an X axis movement unit 34,and a Z axis movement unit 35, provided further in the Z axis+side thanthe x-ray generation unit 2. The placement stage 30 is provided so as tobe rotatable by the rotation drive unit 32, and when the rotation axisYr moves in the X axis, Y axis, or Z axis directions due to the rotationdrive unit 32, it also moves therewith.

The rotation drive unit 32 is, for example, configured by an electricmotor or the like, and rotates the placement stage 30 with an axis thatis parallel to the Y axis and passes through the center of the placementunit 30 as a rotation axis Yr via the rotational force generated by anelectric motor controlled and driven by a control device 5, describedhereinafter. The Y axis movement unit 33, the X axis movement unit 34,and the Z axis movement unit 35 are controlled by the control device 5,and each move the placement stage 30 in the X axis direction, the Y axisdirection, and the Z axis direction respectively so that the specimen Sis positioned in the emission range of the x-rays emitted by the x-raygeneration unit 2. In addition, the Z axis movement unit 35 iscontrolled by the control unit 5, and moves the placement stage 30 inthe Z axis direction so that the distance from the x-ray source 2 to thespecimen S is a distance wherein the specimen S in the captured image isat the desired enlargement ratio.

The detector 4 is provided further in the Z direction+side than thex-ray source 2 and the placement stage 30. That is, the placement stage30 is provided between the x-ray source 2 and the detector 4 in the Zdirection. The detector 4 is a so-called line sensor, which has anincident surface 41 extending along the X direction on a plane parallelto the XY plane; x-rays including the transmission x-rays passingthrough the specimen S placed on the placement stage 30 emitted from thex-ray source 2 are incident upon the incident surface 41. The detector 4is configured by a scintillator unit including a publicly knownscintillating substance, a photomultiplier tube, a light receiving unit,and the like; it converts the energy of x-rays incident on the incidentsurface 41 of the scintillator unit to light energy such as visiblelight or ultraviolet light, amplifies it with the photomultiplier tube,converts the amplified light energy to electric energy with theaforementioned light receiving unit, and outputs it as an electricsignal to the control device 5.

Note that the detector 4 may convert the energy of incident x-rays toelectric energy and output it as an electric signal without convertingit to light energy. The detector 4 has a composition wherein thescintillator unit, the photomultiplier tube, and the light receivingunit are each divided into a plurality of pixels. Thus, it can acquirean intensity distribution for the x-rays which have been emitted fromthe x-ray source 2 and have passed through the specimen S. Note that asthe detector 4, a composition may be had wherein the scintillator unitis directly formed on the light receiving unit (photoelectric conversionunit) without providing a photomultiplier tube.

Note that the detector 4 is not limited to a line sensor, and may be atwo-dimensional planar detector. That is, in the present embodiment, theline sensor for the detector 4 has an incident surface 41 extending inthe X direction on a plane parallel to the XY plane, but only oneincident surface 41 is disposed in the Y direction. Furthermore, in theXY plane, a plurality of incident surfaces 41 are disposed in the Xdirection. Also, each of the plurality of incident surfaces 41 canindependently detect the intensity of an x-ray. In the presentembodiment, a plurality of the incident surfaces 41 may be aligned inthe Y direction. For example, in the XY plane in FIG. 1, it may be atwo-dimensional planar detector wherein a plurality of incident surfaces41 are disposed in the X direction and the Y direction. Also, in a casewhere a two-dimensional planar detector is used, it may be used as aline sensor, wherein only the incident surfaces 41 in the X direction ata predetermined location in the Y direction are used from among theplurality of incident surfaces 41 aligned in the Y direction. In thiscase, an intensity distribution of the x-rays on the incident surfaces41 in the X direction at the predetermined position in the Y directionmay be acquired, and the shape information for the specimen S may beanalyzed from the intensity distribution of the x-rays acquired at thepredetermined position in the Y direction. Also, in this case, whenacquiring an intensity distribution of the x-rays on the incidentsurfaces 41 in the X direction at a plurality of positions in the Ydirection, an intensity distribution for x-rays on the incident surfaces41 in the X direction at positions that are mutually separated in the Ydirection may be acquired.

The x-ray source 2, the placement stage 3, and the detector 4 aresupported by a frame (not illustrated in the drawings). The frame isconstructed having sufficient rigidity. Thus, it is possible to stablysupport the x-ray source 2, the placement stage 3, and the detector 4while acquiring a projected image of the specimen S. Further, the frameis supported by an anti-vibration mechanism (not illustrated in thedrawings) to prevent vibration generated on the outside from beingtransmitted as is to the frame.

The input operation unit 11 is configured by a keyboard, variousbuttons, a mouse, and the like and is operated when the position of theregion to be inspected is input at the time of the inspection of thespecimen S, as will be described hereinafter, or updating the region tobe inspected and the like by an operator. When the input operation unit11 is operated by an operator, an operation signal corresponding to theoperation is output to the inspection processing device 1.

The control device 5 has a microprocessor and its peripheral circuitsand the like, and controls various units of the x-ray inspectionapparatus 100 by reading in and executing a control program storedbeforehand on a storage medium not illustrated in the drawings (forexample, flash memory or the like). The control device 5 is providedwith an x-ray control unit 51, a movement control unit 52, an imagegeneration unit 53, and an image reconstruction unit 54. The x-raycontrol unit 51 controls the behavior of the x-ray source 2, and themovement control unit 52 controls the movement behavior of themanipulator 36. The image generation unit 53 generates x-ray projectedimage data for the specimen S based on an electric signal output fromthe detector 4, and the image reconstruction unit 54 executes publiclyknown image reconstruction processing and generates a reconstructedimage based on the projected image data for the specimen S from eachdifferent projection direction while controlling the manipulator unit36. This reconstructed image is an image illustrating the structure ofthe interior of the portion of the specimen S positioned in between thex-ray source 2 and the detector 4, and is output as voxel data. Thevoxel data illustrates an absorption coefficient distribution of thespecimen S. Further, in the present embodiment, three-dimensional shapeinformation, which is the internal structure of the specimen S, isgenerated by a surface model construction unit provided inside the imagereconstruction unit 54 based on the reconstructed image acquired atdifferent positions in the Y direction. In this case, back projection,filtered back projection, iterative reconstruction, and the like mayexist as image reconstruction processing.

As illustrated in the block diagram in FIG. 2, the inspection processingdevice 1 has a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits and the like,and performs various processing when inspecting a portion of thespecimen S, described hereinafter, by reading in and executing a controlprogram stored beforehand on a storage medium not illustrated in thedrawings (for example, flash memory or the like). The inspectionprocessing device 1 is provided with a configuration informationacquisition unit 55, an inspection control unit 56, an inspectionanalysis unit 57, and a data accumulation unit 58. The configurationinformation acquisition unit 55 acquires design information such as athree-dimensional CAD regarding the specimen S, and informationregarding internal defects and the like of the specimen S obtained froma simulation. The inspection control unit 56 performs processing forshortening the inspection time (hereinafter inspection time shorteningprocessing) when inspecting a region to be inspected of one part of thespecimen S, as described hereinafter. The inspection analysis unit 57analyzes shape information for the specimen S generated based on aplurality of transmission images, which are the inspection result forthe specimen S, and performs change, addition, deletion, and the like ofregions of the specimen to be inspected in a following inspection. Thedata accumulation unit 58 is a non-volatile storage medium for storingvarious data generated by processing by the inspection control unit 56and the inspection analysis unit 57. Note that the details of theinspection control unit 56 and the inspection analysis unit 57 will bedescribed hereinafter.

The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 moves the placement stage 30 in eachof the XYZ directions to position the specimen S in an inspectionposition when performing an inspection of the internal composition ofthe specimen S. Then, the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 emits a slitbeam having a predetermined width in the Y direction from the x-raysource 2 at the specimen S being rotated with the rotation driving ofthe placement stage 30. The detector 4 receives the transmission x-rays,including x-rays passing through the specimen S, and obtains shapeinformation for the cross-section of the specimen S corresponding to thewidth (for example, approximately 1 mm) in the Y direction of the slitbeam. The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 repeatedly performs theemission of the slit beam toward the specimen S during rotation drivingand the movement of the placement stage 30 in the Y direction, that is,the movement of the specimen S in the Y direction. When the slit beam isperformed in a range extending to the entire region the length in the Ydirection of the specimen S placed on the placement stage 30, it cangenerate shape information for the entire specimen S (hereinafter calleda full scan). In the case that the emission of the slit beam isperformed in a range of a portion of the length in the Y direction ofthe specimen S placed on the placement stage 30, it can acquire atransmission image for the portion and generate shape information for aportion of the specimen S based on the transmission image (hereinaftercalled a partial scan).

Note that in the present specification, in the following description,the region in which the slit beam overlaps with the specimen S is calledthe sliced plane. In the present embodiment, when the specimen S isdisposed in the region prescribed by the emission point Q and theincident surface 41 of the detector 4, an x-ray passing through thespecimen S can be detected. In this case, the detectable region for thex-ray passing through the specimen S is called the sliced plane. Thesliced plane is a region having a predetermined width. Note that in thepresent embodiment, the region in which the region prescribed by theincident surface 41 of the detector 4 and the emission point Q and thespecimen S are superimposed is the sliced plane. Of course, the slicedplane may, for example, be a region connecting the emission point Q andthe center of the detector 4. In the present specification, the width ofthe sliced plane corresponds to a region for generating voxel data, andcorresponds to one where the voxel is one level, that is, the alignednumber of voxels in the Y direction is one. Furthermore, the slicedregion corresponds to a region for generating voxel data, andcorresponds to one where the voxel is one level or plural level, thatis, the aligned number of voxels in the Y direction is one or aplurality. Hereinafter, description of the embodiment in the presentspecification will be carried out assuming that the region from which avoxel is generated from a transmission image acquired with one rotationdriving of the placement stage 30 is a sliced plane with a one-levelvoxel. However, the assumption that the width of the sliced place is aone-level voxel has the object of facilitating understanding of theinvention, and the width of the sliced plane in the present invention isnot limited to that above. The position of the slit plane relative tothe specimen S on the placement stage 30 moves relatively in the Ydirection with the movement of the placement stage 30 in the Ydirection. In the description below, this movement of the sliced planerelative to the specimen S is called displacement, and the amount ofmovement at this time is called the amount of displacement. Note that inthe present embodiment, when the placement stage 30 is moved in the Ydirection after detecting a predetermined region in a predeterminedlocation, the predetermined region detected prior to the movement andthe predetermined region detected subsequent to the movement are notsuperimposed. Of course, they may be partially superimposed.

The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 in the present embodiment performs aninspection by performing a full scan or a partial scan of several of thespecimen S having similar shapes, for example, as in a cast item. A fullscan means a measurement operation to generate a reconstruction image ata predetermined interval in the Y direction to acquire the interiorcomposition of the entire specimen S. It is performed at an opportunitywhere a relatively large amount of time can be allocated to inspectiontime, when volume production manufacturing isn't being performed, suchas after maintenance on the cast for the specimen S. A partial scanmeans a measurement operation to generate a reconstruction image foronly one portion, including an evaluation region described hereinafterfrom within the specimen S. Besides the timing for performing a fullscan described above, several portions of the specimen S with a highlikelihood of an internal defect occurring (hereinafter calledevaluation regions) are selected as regions to be inspected and areperformed when inspected.

An inspection time T for the specimen S according to the x-rayinspection apparatus 100 is determined with the following Formula (1).Inspection time T=Tr×Nr×Ns  (1)

Nr is the frequency at which the transmission image data is acquired inthe detector 4 while the specimen S performs one rotation centered onthe rotation axis Yr. The greater the value of Nr, in other words theacquisition frequency of the transmission image data, becomes, thethinner in angle slice taking data becomes. Tr is the time required toacquire one rotation of data, and corresponds to the time required togenerate transmission image data from transmission x-rays received bythe detector 4. Ns is the sum of the number of sliced planes, that is,it is a value dividing the sum of the amount of movement of the specimenS in the Y direction (amount of displacement) by the thickness of onesliced plane. From the aforementioned Formula (1), the inspection time Tfor the specimen S can be understood to increase compared to the numberof sliced planes.

If the width of the sliced plane is approximately 1 mm and the timerequired to inspect one sliced plane is 2 minutes, in a case where afull scan is performed on a specimen S whose size in the Y direction is400 mm, the inspection time would be 400 mm/1 mm×2 min=13 hours, so itcan be understood that an extremely long time is required.

Note that the resolving power for three-dimensional data for thespecimen S constructed from inspection data is related to the angularresolving power and the distance from the center of rotation. Thus, evenif the slices of the rotation angle at the time of the inspection aremade thinner than necessary, only the measurement time will increase; inparticular, the resolving power in the region close to the center ofrotation will not improve. In order to increase the resolving power, itis effective to move the specimen S closer to the x-ray source 2 andraise the enlargement ratio.

In the present embodiment, the inspection control unit 56 performsinspection time shortening processing for shortening the inspection timeT when performing a partial scan on the specimen S by performing aselection of an appropriate sliced plane. Below, a detailed descriptionwill be performed regarding inspection time shortening processing.

As illustrated in the block diagram in FIG. 2, the inspection controlunit 56 is provided with an evaluation region setting unit 561, alattice grid setting unit 562, a sliced plane selection unit 563, aninspection unit 564, a grouping unit 565, and a magnificationcalculation unit 568.

The evaluation region setting unit 561 performs evaluation regionsetting processing for setting an evaluation region on which to have aninspection performed at the time of a partial scan on the specimen Susing information and the like based on design information acquired bythe composition information acquisition unit 55 or simulations. Thelattice grid setting unit 562 divides a region including the setevaluation region into three-dimensional lattice units and turns it intoa lattice grid, which reduces the processing load of selecting a slicedplane, described hereinafter. The sliced plane selection unit 563performs sliced plane and reference plane selection processing forselecting an appropriate emission direction of the x-rays from theviewpoint of inspection time shortening, that is, the sliced plane, whenperforming a partial scan.

The inspection unit 564 performs x-ray CT inspection processing forcontrolling the x-ray source 2, the detector 4, the manipulator unit 36,and the like via the control device 5 so that the specimen S isinspected in the sliced plane selected by the sliced plane selectionunit 563. Here, shape information can be generated for a specimen Sincluding the internal structure for each sliced plane. The groupingunit 565 classifies (groups) the plurality of evaluation regions into aplurality of groups based on their shape characteristics so thatselection can be performed for an appropriate sliced plane by the slicedplane selection unit 563. A region resetting unit 575 resets theposition of the evaluation region set by the region setting unit 561within a settable range based on a settable range including theevaluation region described hereinafter, when performing selection of anappropriate sliced plane by the sliced plane selection unit 563. Themagnification calculation unit 568 performs position matching wheninspecting a set evaluation region, and calculation of the magnificationwhen acquiring a transmission image to generate a reconstruction imageof the evaluation region.

Below, a detailed description will be given of each processing performedby the inspection control unit 56, the evaluation region setting unit561, the lattice grid setting unit 562, the sliced plane selection unit563, the inspection unit 564, the grouping unit 565, and themagnification calculation unit 568. First, a definition of the terms onwhich the description of each processing is presupposed will beperformed.

1. Definition of Terms

1.1. Evaluation Region

The evaluation region is a site in which the occurrence of internaldefects or the like in the specimen S are expected caused by thestructure of the specimen S or the manufacturing method, and is a regionfor evaluating its condition from an investigation result using x-raysas described hereinafter. In the present embodiment, the evaluationregion is spatially specified as an initial value by an operator, andchange or deletion of the spatial position is performed according to theoperator's determination. In a case where the specimen S is the cylinderblock for an engine, the following examples exist as evaluation regions.

Regions Needing Management of Product Functionality

The cast iron liner cast within the bore portion of a cylinder, the castiron bearing cap cast within the crankshaft journal portion of thecylinder block or rudder frame, the vicinity of the cooling channel, thefastening portion of bolt fasteners and the like, and the locations ofthe oil pan and the mission case are given.

The degree of adhesion between the iron material and the aluminummaterial in locations where an technique of casting within is used whenmanufacturing the specimen S is an important item to be managed; whenadhesion of the liner portion is bad, the bearing force of the bore atthe time of precision work drops, which has an influence on thecircularity of the bore; also, when the engine is running, deformationdue to heat generation is uneven, which increases the sliding resistanceof the piston ring. In either case, this brings about a drop in outputand a worsening of fuel efficiency. For the bearing gap, the degree ofadhesion is, if course, important, but in a case where there are manyblowholes, since this portion has a large load placed thereon, thisbecomes a problem for the mechanism's strength. An increase in load fromthe crankshaft due to engine running can ultimately be connected tocrank occurrence.

In a case where cavities occur in succession in the thin portion in thevicinity of the cooling channel, the risk of a cooling water leakincreases. Thus, it is desirable that an evaluation region be set in adirection where the particularly thin portion in the vicinity of thecooling channel extends. All engine blocks are inspected with a leaktester after rough machining of the cooling channel, but it is desirablethat the risk of a leak is known at an early stage before roughmachining. Since the fastening portion of bolt fasteners and the like isa portion on which a load is placed, there is a need to check thepresence of a crack and the possibility of blowholes extending to becomethe crack. Normally, a method of impregnation inspection is used; x-rayinspection is effective for an inspection of this portion. An inspectionof limited sites alone is effective for the oil pan, mission case, andthe like.

Regions Derived from the Necessity of Dimension Management

In casting, the shape of the formed item changes depending on thecombining accuracy of the mold. Thus, an evaluation region is set basedon the mold structure and the management structure of the core. Inparticular, there is a need for inspection immediately after maintenanceof the mold.

Because the engine block is made increasingly thinner to decreaseweight, there is a need to manage whether the thickness is withintolerances. Because thickness tolerances are prescribed for eachportion, a stipulated site is set as an evaluation region, and thesmallest thickness within that evaluation region is measured and output.

Regions Decided by Empirical Values

The region of the engine block corresponding to the vicinity of the gateand vicinity of cast pull pin on the mold is set as an evaluationregion. There is a possibility that the cast pull pin on the mold, whichhas an extreme temperature cycle, will become worn, will have the pinbent, or will not completely cool; furthermore, the possibility ofwearing in the vicinity of the gate through which hot liquid solutionflows at high speed is higher than in other places. For this reason, theregion of the engine block corresponding to these portions on the moldshould have an inspection performed thereon at a high frequency. Settingof the evaluation region and evaluation timing can be standardized basedon knowledge obtained through experience.

Region Decided by Simulation

There is also a need to make portions wherein the possibility that adefect may occur is predicted in a simulation into evaluation regions.There is also a need to make hot liquid misrun at the confluence of hotliquid solution and drawn cavities in portions where the thicknessgreatly changes into evaluation regions.

Regions in the Vicinity of Machining Surfaces

The vicinity of machining surfaces assumed to be post-machined aftercasting are set as evaluation regions. This is because there is aproblem in that cavities that do not appear on the surface in the castedstate will appear after post-machining.

In FIG. 3, one example of an evaluation region 600 in a case where acylinder block of an engine is the specimen S is illustrated. In theevaluation region 600, various three-dimensional shapes are included.Inside the engine block, an evaluation region 601 in the vicinity of thecrankshaft journal portion is a semi-circular arc shape with thickness.An evaluation region 602 in the vicinity of the cast pull pin is acylinder shape enclosing the cast pull pin. Also, an evaluation region603 managing the dimensions of thickness and the like is a shapeincluding the dimension measurement target. An evaluation region of aportion in which drawn cavities are predicted to occur in a simulationis an indefinite shape described hereinafter.

Note that in the description below, an orthogonal coordinate system madefrom a U axis, a V axis, and a W axis is set with regards to thespecimen S.

1.2. Lattice Grid

One example of a lattice grid 650 is illustrated in FIG. 4. The latticegrid 650 is provided in a three-dimensional shape along each of the UVWdirections. A plurality of lattice grids 650 are applied to theevaluation regions 600 interspersed within the specimen S having variousshapes, and are provided to calculate the relationship of theorientation of the specimen S when placed on the placement stage 30 andthe radiation direction of the x-rays to shorten the inspection time forthe evaluation regions. Each of the plurality of evaluation regions 600are shown by the lattice grids 650 by the lattice grids 650 beingapplied to the evaluation regions 600 having various three-dimensionalshapes and sizes, as will be described hereinafter. That is, by dividingthe evaluation regions 600 using a plurality of lattice grids 650, itcan simplify from which UVW direction a partial scan is performed on aregion including the evaluation regions 600 of the specimen S based onthe lattice grids 650, that is, processing when performing sliced planeselection, described hereinafter. Furthermore, the volume of cavitiesper unit volume of lattice grid (the volume ratio) can be calculated byhandling the investigation results in lattice grid 650 units whenanalyzing the investigation results for the specimen S in theinvestigation analysis unit 57, as described hereinafter.

The lattice grids 650 are set so as to include a plurality of so-calledvoxel data. Voxel data is the smallest unit configuringthree-dimensional data generated by the image reconstruction unit 54.The size of each lattice grid 650 (grid size) is set to, for example,1/10 or ⅕ the size of the evaluation region 6, smaller than the size ofthe evaluation regions 600. That is, size relationship of the voxelsize, the grid size, and the size of the evaluation region is set so asto be the voxel size<the grid size<the size of the evaluation region.

Note that for the aforementioned voxel data, the closer the specimen Sis to the x-ray source 2, the finer the three-dimensional pitch of thevoxel data of the specimen S can be obtained. The coarseness of thevoxel data depends on the positional relationship of the x-ray source 2,the specimen S, and the detector 4, and the scanning pitch of thespecimen S in the Y axis direction (that is, the thickness of the slicedplane). Meanwhile, the evaluation regions 600 exist in various places onthe specimen S in various sizes, and in various shapes. Thus, byapplying the lattice grids 650 to the evaluation regions 600, theprocessing for selecting a sliced plane can be performed efficiently.

2. Inspection Time Shortening Processing

Hereinafter, setting processing for an evaluation region, settingprocessing for a lattice grid, sliced plane and reference planeselection processing, and x-ray CT inspection processing includinginspection time shortening processing when performing a partial scanwill each be described in detail.

2.1. Setting Processing for an Evaluation Region

The evaluation region setting unit 561 of the inspection control unit 56sets the position and range (size) of the evaluation regions 600 of thespecimen S. The evaluation region setting unit 561 sets the position andrange of the evaluation regions 600 based on information input manuallyby an operator based on design information from three-dimensional CAD orthe like, information from simulation results, described hereinafter,information based on measurement data performed in the past, and thelike. That is, the evaluation region setting unit 561 setsthree-dimensional coordinate data representing the position and range ofthe evaluation regions 600 in a three-dimensional coordinate system inthe design information, and stores it in the data accumulation unit 58.

In a simulation a perfect prediction is impossible, but information suchas regions in which there is a possibility that drawn cavities or thelike will occur is effectively utilized. The input information necessaryfor a simulation is three-dimensional data representing the shape of thespecimen S; from this three-dimensional data a mesh for calculation iscreated, and a pouring and solidifying simulation is performed. Thesimulation results are quantitative data representing the degree andplace in which there is a possibility of drawn cavities or the likeoccurring. Regarding drawn cavities, there is a publicly-knownevaluation index called the Niyama parameter; using the Niyamaparameter, the places in which drawn cavities occur can be predicted toa degree.

2.2. Setting Processing for a Lattice Grid

The lattice grid setting unit 562 sets the lattice grids 650 so that thesize is larger than a voxel, and smaller than the size of the evaluationregions 600, as described above. When the lattice grids 650 are set, thelattice grid setting unit 562 makes the evaluation region 600 into alattice grid and sets a grid converted evaluation region 610 by dividingthe region including the evaluation regions 600 using the lattice grids650.

Note that the lattice grid setting unit 562 can also set the latticegrids 650 according to the operation of an operator. For example, in acase where an investigation result is analyzed for a small evaluationregion 600, high accuracy analysis results can be obtained by providinga lattice grid 650 more densely by setting the size of the lattice grid650 smaller than normal.

A concept for setting the grid converted evaluation region 610 isschematically illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5D. Note that FIGS. 5A to 5Dillustrate the evaluation regions 600, the lattice grids 650, and thegrid converted evaluation regions 610, which have three-dimensionalshapes, in two-dimensional shapes with the object of facilitatingunderstanding. FIG. 5A illustrates one evaluation region 600, and FIG.5B illustrates a plurality of set lattice grids 650. The lattice gridsetting unit 562 applies (overlays) the lattice grids 650 to theevaluation region 600. As described above, the individual lattice grids650 have a size smaller than the size of the evaluation region 600.Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, among the plurality of lattice grids650, a lattice grid 651 superimposing the evaluation region 600 in theentire region, a lattice grid 652 superimposing in one portion of theregion, and a lattice grid 653 in which no superimposing region existsare formed. The lattice grid setting unit 562 combines the lattice grid651 superimposing the evaluation region 600 in the entire region, andthe lattice grid 652 superimposing in a portion of the region together.As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 5D, the grid converted evaluationregion 610, which makes the evaluation region 600 into a lattice grid,is set by the lattice grid setting unit 562.

An example in a case where setting of the grid converted evaluationregion 610 is performed on a three-dimensional evaluation region 600 isschematically illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Note that in FIGS. 6A and6B, the specimen S is omitted from the drawing. FIG. 6A illustrates acase where, for example, one evaluation region 600 is set. FIG. 6Billustrates a grid converted evaluation region 610 generated by makingthis evaluation region 600 into a lattice grid. Note that FIG. 6B isdrawn omitting the lattice grids 650 except the lattice grid 650included in the grid converted evaluation region 610 for convenience ofdrawing.

When the lattice grid setting unit 562 makes the three-dimensionalevaluation region 600 into a lattice grid, as described above, datatransformed from the three-dimensional coordinate data of the evaluationregion 600 stored in the data accumulation unit 58 to coordinate valuesin a UVW coordinate system represented by the units of the lattice grid650 is also stored in the data accumulation unit 58.

2.3. Sliced Plane and Reference Plane Setting Processing

The sliced plane setting unit 561 sets a reference plane and a slicedplane when partially scanning the specimen S. The sliced plane settingunit 561 sets a reference plane so that it is configured from a planeand points including reference positions in design information from, forexample, three-dimensional CAD data or the like. This reference plane isused to match a reference plane in design information fromthree-dimensional CAD data or the like and a reference plane whenplacing and inspecting the specimen S on the placement stage 30.Furthermore, three-dimensional shape information for the regionincluding the reference plane acquired using a partial scan or a fullscan can also be used in position matching the lattice grid 650 andshape information for the specimen S.

The sliced plane selection unit 563 selects a sliced plane to measurethe grid converted evaluation region 610 according to the procedure ofsliced plane selection described hereinafter. Below, a description ofsliced plane selection will be performed by dividing it into thefollowing (1) through (7).

(1) A case where there is one grid converted evaluation region

(2) A case where there are a plurality of grid converted evaluationregions

(3) A case where a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions can beseen as one evaluation region

(4) A case where an evaluation region has a settable range

(5) A case where evaluation regions are grouped according to thedirection of extension of the evaluation region

(6) A case where evaluation regions are grouped according to themagnification of the transmission image

(7) A case based on simulation results

(1) A case where there is one grid converted evaluation region

FIG. 7A schematically illustrates projection planes P1, P2 eachprojecting the grid converted evaluation region 610 illustrated in FIG.6B in the VW plane and the WU plane. By using the projection plane P1parallel to the VW plane, a sliced plane candidate 701 displacing in theW direction and a sliced plane candidate 702 displacing in the Vdirection can be compared. Further, by using the projection plane P2onto a plane parallel to the WU plane, a sliced plane candidate 702displacing in the V direction and a sliced plane candidate 703displacing in the U direction can be compared. Note that in FIG. 7A, anarrow facing the direction of displacement is given illustrating thedisplacement direction for each of the sliced plane candidates 701, 702,and 703. Note that in the present embodiment, the sliced plane candidate703 selects sliced planes mutually intersecting as candidates. Note thatin the present embodiment, the VW plane, the WU plane, and the UV planeare used, and each mutually differ by 90°. The angle formed by eachplane is not limited to 90°, and may, for example, be 80°, 70°, 60°,50°, 40°, 30°, 20°, 10°, or 5°. Further, the sliced plane candidate 703may have a predetermined region having a predetermined width in adirection orthogonal to the VW plane rather than the VW plane. In a casewhere the sliced candidate plane 703 is selected from a plurality ofpredetermined regions, each of the plurality of predetermined regionsmay intersect. For example, the normal lines for the surfaces for aplurality of predetermined regions may each intersect.

Note that in the present specification, the sliced plane candidates 701,702, 703 are used for descriptive purposes to describe the procedure ofsliced plane selection, and are not actually used for processing forselecting a sliced plane.

A sliced plane candidate with the smallest amount of displacement is setas the sliced plane 700 when performing a partial scan from among theamounts of displacement when each of the sliced plane candidates 701through 703 is displaced in a state intersecting with the grid convertedevaluation region 610. Next, a description will be given using theprojection plane P1 parallel to the VW plane.

FIG. 7B schematically illustrates the projection plane P1, the gridconverted evaluation region 610 VW on the projection plane P1, and thesliced plane candidates 701, 702. The grid converted evaluation region610 VW is configured by lattice grids 650, four in the V direction andtwo in the W direction. Note that in FIG. 7B, the displacement directionof the sliced plane candidates 701 and 702 are each illustrated witharrows. In a case where the grid converted evaluation region 610 isinspected through the sliced plane candidate 701, a length w1 in the Wdirection, which is the displacement direction for the sliced planecandidate 701, that is, the number of lattice grids 650 aligned alongthe W direction (in the example in FIG. 7B, two) will be the amount ofdisplacement for the sliced plane candidate 701 with regard to the gridevaluation region 610. The amount of displacement is proportional to theinspection time required when inspecting the grid converted evaluationregion 610 along the W direction.

When scanning the grid converted evaluation region 610 through thesliced plane candidate 702, a length v1 in the V direction, which is thedisplacement direction of the sliced plane candidate 702, that is, thenumber of lattice grids 650 aligned along the V direction (in theexample in FIG. 7B, four) will be the amount of displacement for thesliced plane candidate 702 with regard to the grid evaluation region610. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7B, the amount of displacementof the sliced plane candidate 701 in the W direction (corresponding tothe two lattice grids 650) is small in comparison with the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 in the V direction(corresponding to the four lattice grids 650). As described above,because the inspection time for the specimen S is proportional to theamount of displacement of the sliced plane 700, according to theevaluation by the projection plane P1, it can be understood that in acase where it is inspected through the sliced plane candidate 701, theinspection time would be shorter compared to a case where it isinspected through the sliced plane candidate 702.

Similarly, by using the projection plane P2 onto the WU plane, an amountof displacement for the sliced plane candidate 703 is similarly found,is compared with the amount of displacement of the aforementioned slicedplane candidate 701, and sliced plane candidate with the smaller amountof displacement is selected as the sliced plane. In a case where theamount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 is smallcompared to the sliced plane candidate 703, the sliced plane candidate701 is selected as the sliced plane 700 for the grid convertedevaluation region 610. In other words, the sliced plane candidate thatdisplaces along the direction in which the length of the grid convertedevaluation region 610 (that is, the direction in which the latticeblocks 650 are aligned) is short is selected as the sliced plane 700. Bythe sliced plane 700 being selected as described above, as illustratedin FIGS. 7A and 7B, a region 720 enclosed by a thick frame is the regionthat will be scanned when inspecting the grid converted evaluationregion 610 through the sliced plane 700 (hereinafter called the scanregion).

(2) A Case Where There are a Plurality of Grid Converted EvaluationRegions

The principles of selection for the sliced plane 700 in a case where aplurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 are selected will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A illustrates a statewherein two grid converted evaluation regions, a first grid convertedevaluation region 610 a and a second grid converted evaluation region610 b are set, with each projected onto a projection plane P1 parallelto the VW plane. The first grid converted evaluation region 601 a isconfigured by lattice grids 650, four in the V direction and two in theW direction, and the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b isconfigured by lattice grids 650, two in the V direction and three in theW direction. That is, in the first grid converted evaluation region 610a, the length v1 in the V direction is greater than the length w1 in theW direction, and in the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b,the length v2 in the V direction is shorter than the length w2 in the Wdirection.

For the first grid converted evaluation region 601 a, the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 and the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 are compared, similarlyto the case in FIG. 7. Because the first grid converted evaluationregion 601 a has fewer lattice grids 650 aligned in the W direction, thesliced plane candidate 701, which displaces in the W direction, isselected as the first sliced plane 700 a for the first grid convertedevaluation region 601 a. Thus, for the first grid converted evaluationregion 601 a, it will be scanned in the range of the first scan region720 a.

For the second grid converted evaluation region 601 b, as well, theamount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 and the amountof displacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 are similarlycompared. Because the second grid converted evaluation region 601 b hasfewer lattice grids 650 aligned in the V direction, the sliced planecandidate 702, which displaces in the V direction, is selected as thesecond sliced plane 700 b for the second grid converted evaluationregion 601 b. Thus, for the second grid converted evaluation region 601b, it will be scanned in the range of the second scan region 720 b. Thatis, in a case where a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610are set, for each grid converted evaluation region 610, the sliced planecandidate that displaces along the direction with the shortest length isselected as the sliced plane 700.

Thus, in a case where a plurality of sliced planes 700 with differentdirections of displacement are selected, there is a need to change theplacement orientation of the specimen S on the placement stage 30, asdescribed hereinafter, when performing an actual inspection.

(3) A case where a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions can beseen as one evaluation region

In a case where a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 areset as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a sliced plane 700 is selectedwith the plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 seen as onegrid converted evaluation region 610. FIG. 8B illustrates a state inwhich a first grid converted evaluation region 610 a and a second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b are set, with each projected onto theprojection plane P1 parallel to the VW plane. The length v1 of the firstgrid converted evaluation region 601 a in the V direction corresponds tofour lattice grids 650, and the length w1 in the W direction correspondsto three lattice grids 650. The length v2 of the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b in the V direction corresponds to three latticegrids 650, and the length w2 in the W direction corresponds to fourlattice grids 650. That is, in the first grid converted evaluationregion 610 a, the length v1 in the V direction is greater than thelength w1 in the W direction, and in the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b, the length v2 in the V direction is shorterthan the length w2 in the W direction.

In this case, if the procedure described using FIG. 8A is followed, thesliced plane candidate 701 whose amount of displacement along the Wdirection is w1 for the first grid converted evaluation region 610 a andthe sliced plane candidate 702 whose amount of displacement along the Vdirection is v2 for the second grid converted evaluation region 610 bare each selected as the sliced planes 700. However, in a case where thesliced plane candidate 701 displaces a region 711 enclosed in a dashedline in FIG. 8B, it will create a state in which a portion of the firstgrid converted evaluation region 610 a and a portion of the second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b exist together on the sliced planecandidate 701. That is, a lattice grid 650 a for the first gridconverted evaluation region 610 a and a lattice grid 650 b for thesecond grid converted evaluation region 610 b, as illustrated in FIG. 8Billustrated with dots, exist in an identical sliced plane orthogonalwith the W axis. Further, a lattice grid 650 c for the grid convertedevaluation region 610 a and a lattice grid 650 d for the grid convertedevaluation region 610 b, illustrated with dots, exist in an identicalsliced plane orthogonal to the W axis.

In a case wherein the sliced plane candidate 701 is used to scan theprojection plane P1, the lattice grids 650 a and 650 b from among thegrid converted evaluation regions 610 a and 610 b can be scanned withidentical timing, and the lattice grids 650 c and 650 d can be scannedwith identical timing. In such a case, the possibility is determined ofthe first grid converted evaluation region 610 a and the second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b being combined and seen as one gridconverted evaluation region 611, selecting the sliced plane 700 based onthe amount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 in the Vdirection and the amount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate702 in the W direction. In the example in FIG. 8B, the length v3 of thegrid converted evaluation region 611 in the V direction corresponds toseven or more lattice blocks 650, and the length w3 in the W directioncorresponds to five lattice blocks 650. Thus, the first grid convertedevaluation region 610 a and the second grid converted evaluation region610 b are combined and seen as one grid converted evaluation region 611,it is determined that selecting the sliced plane candidate 701, whoseamount of displacement in the W direction is smaller, as the slicedplane 700 will lead to a shorter inspection time, and the grid convertedevaluation region 611 including the first grid converted evaluationregion 610 a and the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b isinspected in a scan range 720.

Based on the principles described above, the sliced plane selection unit563 selects a sliced plane 700 for the evaluation region 600 set on thespecimen S. The sliced plane selection unit 563 reads three-dimensionalcoordinate data for the grid converted evaluation region 610 in the UVWcoordinate system for each lattice grid 650 out from the dataaccumulation unit 58. The sliced plane selection unit 563 calculates anamount of displacement using three-dimensional coordinate data for thelength of the grid converted evaluation region 610 in the U direction,the V direction, and the W direction, and selects the sliced plane 700that displaces in the direction with the shortest length.

In a case where a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 areset, the sliced plane selection unit 563 determines if there are planeson which a portion of a grid converted evaluation region 610 and aaportion of another grid converted evaluation region 610 simultaneouslyexist among the different grid converted evaluation regions 610. Thatis, the sliced plane selection unit 563 determines whether at least onecoordinate data from among the U coordinate value, the V coordinatevalue, and the W coordinate value matches in the different gridconverted evaluation regions 610. In the different grid convertedevaluation regions 610, in a case where at least one coordinate datamatches, the sliced plane selection unit 563 selects the sliced plane700 that displaces in the direction with the shortest length for onegrid converted evaluation region 611 generated by combining the gridconverted evaluation regions 601. In a case where the different gridconverted evaluation regions 610 in which at least one coordinate valuematches do not exist, the sliced plane selection unit 563 selects thesliced plane 700 that displaces in the direction with the shortestlength for individual grid converted evaluation regions 610.

Note that even in a state where one portion of a plurality of gridconverted evaluation regions exist together on one sliced planecandidate, it may not always be able to shorten the inspection time bycombining the plurality of grid converted evaluation regions and byseeing them as one evaluation region. A determination of whether tocombine a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions and see them asone evaluation region is decided based on a comparison of the total ofthe amounts of displacement of the sliced planes in a case where aplurality of grid converted evaluation regions are separately inspected,with the amounts of displacement of the sliced planes in a case where aplurality of grid converted evaluation regions are combined.

The setting processing for the sliced plane 700 in a case where acylinder block for an engine is the specimen S, and an evaluation region600 is set will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B. Asdescribed about using FIG. 3, three types are set as the evaluationregion 600: an evaluation region 601 of the crankshaft journal portion,an evaluation region 602 of the cast pull pin, and an evaluation region603 of the liner portion. Four places are set as the evaluation region601 of the crankshaft journal portion, which is a mechanically importantsite, eight places as the evaluation region 602 of the cast pull pin,which is a site where the temperature cycle is intense, and six placesas the evaluation region 603 of the liner portion. Note that the shapeof the liner portion is cylindrical, but since the degree of adhesioncan also be determined in a partial inspection rather than the fullcircumference of the cylinder, two places interposing each cylindershape are set, for a total of six places.

The sliced plane selection unit 563 sets the sliced plane 700 accordingto the procedure described above based the individual evaluation regions600 and on what direction the alignment of the evaluation regions 600extends. As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the amount of displacement of thesliced plane 700 in a case where a sliced plane 700 that is parallel tothe WU plane and displaces in the V direction is set is smaller comparedto cases where sliced planes 700 in the VW plane or the UV plane areset. FIG. 9B illustrates sliced ranges 720 a, 720 b, 720 c forinspecting each of the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 for thecrankshaft journal, the cast pull pin, and the liner portion decidedaccording to the set sliced plane 700. In a case where a partial scan isperformed on the specimen S, irradiation of x-ray in the sliced ranges720 a, 720 b, 720 c is performed as described hereinafter; irradiationby x-rays in a range beyond these sliced ranges is not performed.

Note that the selected sliced plane 700 and sliced range 720 aredisplayed on the display monitor 6, and one configured so that theselection state of the sliced plane 720 and the sliced range 720 areobservable by the operator is included in one aspect of the presentinvention.

The sliced plane 700 is selected based on the procedure described above,but the sliced plane selection unit 563 can take into consideration thesettable range of the evaluation region 600 and perform selection of thesliced plane 700 by resetting the position and the like of theevaluation region 600 set by the evaluation region setting unit 561. Thesettable range is a range in which a little deviation in the positionand size is allowed, even if the position and size of the evaluationregion 600 are not necessarily exactly the input values. For example,because the crankshaft journal portion on the cylinder block of theengine has a degree of thickness in the crankshaft axis direction (Vdirection), the impact on the evaluation region 601 is small if itdeviates within this range. In other words, the evaluation region 600having a settable range can displace (move) a position inside thesettable range. By displacing the evaluation region 600 inside thesettable range, the amount of displacement of the sliced plane 700, thatis, the width of the sliced range 720 can be shortened, making possibleshortening the inspection time. Note that the evaluation region 602 ofthe cast pull pin in the cylinder block of the engine must be in theposition set in the V direction. That is, it is a fixed evaluationregion 600 that does not have a settable range and whose position cannotbe displaced.

Note that when the evaluation region 600 described above is set, thesettable range may also be configured to be able to be input.

(4) A Case Where an Evaluation Region Has a Settable Range

The selection of the sliced plane 700 in a case taking intoconsideration the settable range will be described with reference toFIGS. 10A and 10B and FIGS. 11A to 11C.

FIG. 10A illustrates a state where a first grid converted evaluationregion 610 a and a second grid converted evaluation region 610 b areset, and are each projected on the projection plane P1 parallel to theVW plane, similarly to the case in FIG. 8A. The length v1 of the firstgrid converted evaluation region 601 a in the V direction corresponds tofour lattice grids 650, and the length in the W direction to two; thelength v2 of the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b in the Vdirection corresponds to two lattice grids 650, and the length w2 in theW direction to three. It is assumed that the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b has a settable range R corresponding to threelattice blocks 650 each on the +side and the −side along the Vdirection, and the first grid converted evaluation region 610 a does nothave a settable range. Note that in FIG. 10A, the lattice block 650corresponding to the settable range R is illustrated with a dashed line.

In the present embodiment, a case where the settable range R is set inthe V direction is described in an example. In FIG. 10A, an amount ofdisplacement V1 with regard to the first grid converted evaluationregion 610 a and an amount of displacement V2 with regard to the secondgrid converted evaluation region 610 b in the V direction are set. Inthis case, if a settable range R is not set in the V direction, theamount of displacement of the sliced plane in the V direction will beV1+V2. Meanwhile in the present embodiment, settable ranges R of threeon the +side, three on the −side in the V direction are set for thesecond grid converted evaluation region 610 b. In this case, in a casewhere the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b is moved bythree to the V direction+side from the state illustrated in FIG. 10A,the amounts of displacement of the set sliced plane in the V directionof the first grid converted evaluation region 610 a and the second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b will be V1 and V2. Meanwhile, in acase where it is moved by three to the V direction−side from the stateillustrated in FIG. 10A, in a case where the sliced plane set by thefirst grid converted evaluation region 610 a is displaced in the Vdirection, a region is set where, not only the first grid convertedevaluation region 610 a is detected, a portion of the second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b is detected. In the case stated inFIG. 10B, the lattice block disposed furthest to the +side among thefour lattice block region set in the V direction of the first gridconverted evaluation region 610 a and the lattice block disposedfurthest to the −side of the second grid converted evaluation region 610b overlap in the V direction. Thus, in FIG. 10B, the first gridconverted evaluation region 610 a and the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b are combined together and seen as one gridconverted evaluation region 611, and the sliced plane 700 is selectedbased on the amount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 inthe V direction and the amount of displacement of the sliced planecandidate 702 in the W direction.

In the example of FIG. 10B, the length v3 of the grid convertedevaluation region 611 in the V direction corresponds to five latticeblocks 650. Thus, the amount of displacement in the V direction can bemade small compared to prior to displacement of the settable range R ofthe second grid converted evaluation region 610 b. That is, in a casewhere another grid converted evaluation region 610 is set in thesettable range R of the grid converted evaluation region 610 having asettable range R, the grid converted evaluation region 610 having asettable range R can be displaced, and setting of the sliced plane 700can be performed so as to view them as one grid converted evaluationregion 611.

The procedure for selecting a sliced plane 700 in a case where aplurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 are set inside thesettable range R of a grid converted evaluation region 610 having asettable range R will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11C.In FIG. 11A, the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b has asettable range R, whereas the first grid converted evaluation region 610a and a third grid converted evaluation region 610 c do not have asettable range R. The second grid converted evaluation region 610 b isdisplaceable by three lattice grids 650 each to of the V direction+sideand −side as the settable range R.

FIG. 11B illustrates a case where the second grid converted evaluationregion 610 b is only displaced by three lattice grids 650 correspondingto the settable range R to the V direction−side. In this case, thelattice grid 650 for the first grid converted evaluation region 610 aand the lattice grid 650 for the second grid converted evaluation 610 billustrated with dots exist on an identical sliced plane candidate 702.That is, as illustrated in the drawing, in each of the first gridconverted evaluation region 610 a and the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b, two lattice grids 650 aligned in the Vdirection can be inspected with similar timing by the displacement ofthe sliced candidate plane 702. Thus, in the grid converted evaluationregion 611 combining the first grid converted evaluation region 610 aand the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b afterdisplacement, the amount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate702 along the V direction corresponds to four lattice grids.

FIG. 11C illustrates a case where the second grid converted evaluationregion 610 b is displaced by three lattice grids 650 corresponding tothe settable range R to the V direction+side. In this case, the latticegrid 650 for the third grid converted evaluation region 610 a and thelattice grid 650 for the second grid converted evaluation 610 billustrated with dots exist on an identical sliced plane candidate 702.That is, as illustrated in the drawing, in each of the third gridconverted evaluation region 610 a and the second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b, one lattice grid 650 aligned in the V directioncan be inspected with similar timing by the displacement of the slicedcandidate plane 702. Thus, in the grid converted evaluation region 611combining the third grid converted evaluation region 610 c and thesecond grid converted evaluation region 610 b after displacement, theamount of displacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 along the Vdirection corresponds to five lattice grids.

Thus in the case illustrated in FIGS. 11A to 11C, as illustrated in FIG.11B, the second grid converted evaluation region 610 b is displaced inthe direction of the first grid converted evaluation region 610 a, andthe sliced plane candidate 702 to be displaced in the V direction isselected as the sliced plane 700. That is, by displacing the second gridconverted evaluation region 610 b having a settable range R so that thelength of the grid converted evaluation region 611 combined into onebecomes shorter, the amount of displacement of the sliced plane 700 canbe made smaller.

Based on the procedure described above, the region resetting unit 567resets the grid converted evaluation region 610, taking intoconsideration the settable range R of the evaluation region 600 having asettable range R set on the specimen S, and the sliced plane selectionunit 563 selects the sliced plane 700 using the reset grid convertedevaluation region 610. The region resetting unit 567 reads coordinatevalues for the grid converted evaluation region 610 in the UVWcoordinate system in lattice grid 650 units out from the dataaccumulation unit 58. In a case where a settable range R is set for thegrid converted evaluation region 610, the region resetting unit 567determines whether another grid converted evaluation region 610 existsin the settable range R using the coordinate values that were read out.That is, the region resetting unit 567 determines whether the differencebetween the coordinate values for the edge portion of a grid convertedevaluation region 610 having a settable range R and the coordinatevalues for the edge portion of another grid converted evaluation region610 that is fixed in the UVW directions is smaller than the settablerange R.

In a case where the difference is smaller than the settable range R, theregion resetting unit 567 determines that another grid convertedevaluation region 610 exists in the settable range R, displaces the gridconverted evaluation region 610 having a settable range R and resets thegrid converted evaluation region 610 so that the size that is shareablein the direction of the settable range R (a number of the lattice grids650) is as large as possible. The sliced plane selection unit 563calculates the length of the grid converted evaluation region 610 resetby the region resetting unit 567 in the U direction, the V direction,and the W direction in UVW coordinates, and selects the sliced plane 700whose amount of displacement in the direction of the shortest length isas small as possible.

Note that in the description above, a case in which a grid convertedevaluation region 610 having a settable range R was displaced towards agrid converted evaluation region 610 not having a settable range R wasgiven as an example, but a case in which grid converted evaluationregions 610 having settable ranges R are both displaced is also includedin one aspect of the present invention.

The setting processing for the sliced plane 700 in a case where acylinder block for an engine is the specimen S, and an evaluation region600 is set will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. FIG.12A illustrates evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 set on a specimen Ssimilarly to the case illustrated in FIG. 3. As described above, theevaluation region 601 for the crankshaft journal portion on the cylinderblock of the engine can be displaced inside the settable range R alongthe V direction, but the evaluation region 602 for the cast pull pincannot be displaced along the V direction. The region resetting unit 567displaces the grid converted evaluation region 610 corresponding to theevaluation region 601 in the V direction, and makes the position in theV direction shared between the grid converted evaluation region 610corresponding to the evaluation region 601 and the grid convertedevaluation region 610 corresponding to the evaluation region 602. Thus,as illustrated in FIG. 12B, the sliced plane selection unit 563, assubstitute for setting the sliced range 720 a (see FIG. 9B) for theevaluation region 601 and the sliced range 720 b (see FIG. 9B) for theevaluation region 602, sets a shared sliced range 720 d for theevaluation region 601 and the evaluation region 602. Then, in a casewhere a partial scan is performed on the specimen S, irradiation of thesliced ranges 720 c, 720 d by x-rays is performed as describedhereinafter; irradiation by x-rays is not performed in a range beyondthe sliced ranges 720 c, 720 d.

(5) A Case Where Evaluation Regions are Grouped According to theDirection of Extension of the Evaluation Region

A description will be given using a conceptual drawing illustrated inFIGS. 13A and 13B. FIG. 13A schematically illustrates the projectionplane P1 in a case where a plurality of first grid converted evaluationregions 610 a with the V direction as the longitudinal direction and aplurality for second grid converted regions 610 b with the V directionas the longitudinal direction are distributed. In the case illustratedin FIG. 13A, by performing processing in accordance with the variousprocedures described above, the sliced plane 700 displacing in the Wdirection is set, and sliced ranges 720 a, 720 b are set as illustratedin the drawing.

FIG. 13B schematically illustrates a case in which, in addition to thefirst grid converted evaluation region 610 a and second grid convertedevaluation region 610 b scattered as illustrated in FIG. 13A, a thirdgrid converted evaluation region 610 c is set with the W direction asthe longitudinal direction. In FIG. 13B, the third grid convertedevaluation region 610 c has a size corresponding to one lattice grid 650in the V direction, and has a size corresponding to 16 lattice grids 650in the W direction. The size of the third grid converted evaluationregion 610 in the W direction will be described as being nearlyequivalent to the size of the specimen S in the W direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 13B, in a case where first, second and third gridconverted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b and 610 c are distributed,when the sliced plane 700 is displaced along the W direction, it has anamount of displacement of the number of lattice grids 650 (in theexample in FIG. 13B, 16) along the W direction configuring the thirdgrid converted evaluation region 610 c, substantially requiring similarinspection time to a case where a full scan is performed. That is, in acase where the sliced plane candidate 701 is selected as the slicedplane 700, the amount of displacement of the sliced plane 700 increases,which leads to an increase in inspection time, compared to the amountsof displacement for the first grid converted evaluation region 610 a andthe second grid converted evaluation region 610 b described above.

The third grid converted evaluation region 610 c has one lattice grid650 in the V direction. For this reason, in a case where the slicedplane candidate 702 is displaced in the V direction as the sliced plane700 and the third grid converted evaluation region 610 c is inspected,the amount of displacement is small compared to a case where the slicedplane 701 is displaced in the W direction. Thus, when a sliced plane 700is displaced in the V direction for the third grid converted evaluationregion 610 c and a sliced plane 700 is displaced in the W direction forthe first and second grid converted evaluation regions 610 a and 610 b,as described above, the respective amounts of displacement for thesliced plane displaced in the W direction (hereinafter called the firstsliced plane 711) and the sliced plane displaced in the V direction(hereinafter called the second sliced plane 712) can be made smaller. Inthis case, the first and second grid converted evaluation regions 610 aand 610 b are grouped into a first group G1, and the third gridconverted evaluation region 610 c is grouped into another second groupG2. That is, a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 aregrouped according to the size in the longitudinal direction of each gridconverted evaluation region 610, and the sliced plane 700 and the slicedregion 720 whose amount of displacement of each group becomes smallerare selected.

Below, particular processing will be described with reference to FIGS.14A and 14B. FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrates a case where, in addition tothe evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 set on a cylinder block of anengine as the specimen S illustrated in FIG. 3, each of two coolingchannels is additionally set as an evaluation region 604. The evaluationregion 604, which is a cooling channel, extends, for example, 300 mm inthe V direction. As illustrated in FIG. 14A, when the specimen S isplaced on the placement stage 30 and inspected, the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane 700 to inspect the evaluation region604, which is a cooling channel, is at least 300 mm. For this reason,the inspection time increases.

The individual evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 for the crankshaftjournal, cast pull pin, and liner illustrated in FIG. 14A generallyextend in the W direction, generally are distributed being included inthe WU plane, and are aligned discretely in the V direction. Meanwhile,the evaluation region 604, which is a cooling channel, extends in the Vdirection, and is included in the UV plane. The grouping unit 565 uses,for example, cluster analysis to group each of the evaluation regions601, 602, 603, 604.

One example representing the variables for each of the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603, 604 by using cluster analysis is illustrated inFIG. 15. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the individual characteristics foreach of the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603, 604 (for example,thickness, direction of thickness, direction of extension, and extensionlength) and the alignment characteristics for a plurality of them (forexample, alignment direction plane, number in plane, direction ofalignment, and aligned number) are displayed as parameters. The groupingunit 565 quantifies three-dimensional information in UVW coordinates ofthe position and size of the evaluation region 600 set by the evaluationregion setting unit 562, extracts them as parameters. The sliced planesetting unit 560 classifies these variables by the individualcharacteristics and alignment characteristics.

FIG. 15 illustrates a state where three-dimensional information aboutthe evaluation regions 601 is classified in a case where a planeparallel to the WU plane is the alignment plane in the upper row of thecolumn for the evaluation regions 601 for the crankshaft journal. Thatis, it illustrates that the individual evaluation regions 601 are 2 mmin thickness in the V direction and 70 mm in thickness in the Udirection, one evaluation region 601 is included in one plane parallelto the WU plane, and four rows of planes of this sort are needed in theV direction. On the lower row of the column for the evaluation regions601, three-dimensional information about the evaluation regions 601 in acase where a plane parallel to the VW plane is the alignment plane isillustrated. Other evaluation regions 602, 603, 604 also havethree-dimensional information similarly illustrated.

Grouping performed by the grouping unit 565 based on the results of thecluster analysis illustrated in FIG. 15 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 16A to 16C. FIG. 16A is a diagram illustrating the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603, 604 and the sliced plane candidates 701, 702, 703with UVW coordinates within the engine block, which is the specimen Sillustrated in FIGS. 14A and 14B. FIG. 16B illustrates a state whereingrid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c eachcorresponding to evaluation regions 601, 602, 603, 604 are projectedonto a projection surface P1 parallel to the VW plane. FIG. 16Cillustrates a change in the cross-sectional area on the sliced planecandidate 701 for the grid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b,610 c, 610 c that change according to the displacement of the slicedplane candidate 701 when the sliced plane candidate 701, which isparallel to the UV plane, is displaced in the W direction. Note thatFIG. 16C illustrates the amount of displacement of the sliced candidateplane 701 in the W direction as the horizontal axis, and thecross-sectional area of the grid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610b, 610 c, 610 c as the vertical axis.

The sliced plane candidate 701 is displaced from the W direction−side tothe +side, the W position of the sliced plane candidate 701 intersectswith the grid converted evaluation region 610 a corresponding to theevaluation region 601 during displacing from W1 to W2 illustrated inFIG. 16B. Thus, the cross-sectional area of the grid convertedevaluation region 610 a intersecting with the sliced plane candidate 701while the position of the sliced plane candidate 701 from W1 to W2 inthe W direction, as illustrated in FIG. 16C, changes according to theshape of the grid converted evaluation region 610 a. In addition, whenthe sliced plane candidate 701 displaces to the W direction+side, thesliced plane candidate 703 and the grid converted evaluation region 610d corresponding to the evaluation region 604 intersect in the W3 to W4range (see FIG. 16B), and the cross-section area intersecting the slicedplane candidate 701 changes according to the grid converted evaluationregion 610 d shape as illustrated in FIG. 16C. When the sliced planecandidate 701 displaces to the W direction+side, as illustrated in FIG.16B, the sliced plane candidate 701 and the grid converted evaluationregion 610 c corresponding to the evaluation region 603 intersect in theW5 to W7 range, the sliced plane candidate 701 and the grid convertedevaluation region 610 b corresponding to the evaluation region 602intersect in the W6 to W8 range, and the cross-sectional areas for thegrid converted evaluation regions 610 c and 610 b intersecting with thesliced plane candidate 701 change as in FIG. 16C. Thus, the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane candidate 701 necessary to inspect thegrid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c will be

(W2−W1)+(W4−W3)+(W8−W5).

Next, in FIGS. 17A and 17B, a change is illustrated in thecross-sectional area in which the grid converted evaluation regions 610a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c each corresponding to the evaluation regions 601,602, 603, 604 and the sliced plane candidate 702 intersect accompanyingthe displacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 when the sliced planecandidate 702, which is parallel to the WU plane, is displaced in the Udirection. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 17B, the grid convertedevaluation region 604 corresponding to the evaluation region 604continues to intersect with the sliced plane candidate 702 while thesliced plane candidate 702 displaces from V1 to V20. Thus, the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane candidate 702 necessary to inspect thegrid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c will be(V20-V1).

Next, in FIGS. 18A and 18B, a change is illustrated in thecross-sectional area in which the grid converted evaluation regions 610a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c each corresponding to the evaluation regions 601,602, 603, 604 and the sliced plane candidate 703 intersect accompanyingthe displacement of the sliced plane candidate 703 when the sliced planecandidate 703, which is parallel to the VW plane, is displaced in the Udirection. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 18B, the sliced planecandidate 703 intersects with any of the grid converted evaluationregions 610 b, 610 c, 610 d each corresponding to the evaluation regions602, 603, 604 while the sliced plane candidate 703 displaces from U1 toU5. The sliced plane candidate 703 intersects with the grid convertedevaluation region 610 a corresponding to the evaluation region 601 whilethe sliced plane candidate 703 displaces from U6 to U7. The sliced planecandidate 703 one again intersects with any of the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 b, 610 c, 610 d each corresponding to theevaluation regions 602, 603, 604 while the sliced plane candidate 703displaces from U8 to U12. Thus, the amount of displacement of the slicedplane candidate 703 necessary to inspect the grid converted evaluationregions 610 a, 610 b, 610 c, 610 c will be

(U5−U1)+(U7−U6)+(U12−U8).

The grouping unit 565 and the sliced plane selection unit 563 simulatehow to group each of the grid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b,610 c, 610 c and select the sliced plane to be able to reduce the amountof displacement based on the results described above, group the gridconverted evaluation region 610 that has the smallest amount ofdisplacement, and select a sliced plane that applies to each group. Inthis case, the grouping unit 565 and the sliced plane selection unit 563group the grid converted evaluation regions 610 a, 610 b, 610 c eachcorresponding to the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 into a first groupG1, and the grid converted evaluation region 610 d corresponding to theevaluation region 604 into a second group G2, select the sliced planecandidate 702 as the first sliced plane 712 for the first group G1, andselect the sliced plane candidate 701 as the second sliced plane 711 forthe second group G2. The sliced range of the first group G1 is selectedfor 720 a, 720 b, 720 c as illustrated in FIG. 14B, and the sliced rangeof the second group G2 is selected for 720 e as illustrated in FIG. 14D.

Note that a case will be described wherein, as a result of the clusteranalysis, two or more group divisions are candidates. That is, it is acase where as a result of grouping and calculating the total of each ofthe amounts of displacement, a similar amount of displacement isobtained in both groupings. In such a case, the grouping to be selectedis decided by determining by adding together the cross-sectional areaand the amount of displacement for the evaluation region. For example,in FIG. 16C, the total surface area of the regions illustrated asportions corresponding to the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603, 604 areobtained by each of both groupings, and the grouping with the smallertotal surface area is selected. This leads to the selection of thegrouping with less inspection data, which leads to a reduction in theprocessing burden of the inspection data.

(6) A case where evaluation regions are grouped according to themagnification of the transmission image

The placement stage 30 of the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 moves inthe X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction, in addition torotation turning on the rotation axis Yr via the manipulator unit 36, asdescribed in FIG. 1. The closer the placement stage 30 moved to the Zdirection−side, that is, toward the x-ray source 2, the more themagnification of the transmission image of the specimen S increases.Furthermore, by moving the placement stage 30 in the X direction,position matching is performed to fit the desired place on the specimenS into the irradiation range of the x-rays.

First, the procedures for position matching when performing aninspection on the set evaluation region 600 will be described.

FIG. 19A illustrates a state where the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603are projected onto the projection plane P2, which is parallel to the WUplane, in a case where a sliced plane 700 displacing in the V directionis selected, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, for a cylinder block for anengine, which is the specimen S. In FIGS. 19A and 19B, x-rays areradiated by an x-ray source 2 in an irradiation range 900 on a planeparallel to the XZ plane. When performing an inspection, the V directionof the specimen S is placed so that it matches the Y direction of thex-ray inspection apparatus 100. That is, the rotation axis Yr of theplacement stage and the V direction of the specimen S are made to match.As a result, the projection plane P2, which is parallel to the WU plane,is parallel to the placement stage 30, which is parallel to the XZplane, and the sliced plane 700 displaces in the Y direction in a stateparallel to the XZ plane. The position of the placement stage 30 in theX direction and the Z direction is set so that all of the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603 projected on the projection plane P2 are includedin the irradiation range 900 of the x-rays. That is, by fixing theposition of the placement stage 30 in the X direction and the Zdirection during inspection though the sliced plane 700, the increase ininspection time accompanying movement in the X direction or the Zdirection can be inhibited.

Here, a circular region 901 including all the evaluation regions 601,602, 603 inside and a center 902 of the circular region 902 are assumed.The center 902 corresponds to the rotation axis Yr in a case where thespecimen S is placed on the placement stage 30, and the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603 inside the circular region 901 are irradiated byx-rays accompanying the rotation of the placement stage 30. Thus, if theposition of the placement stage 30 is set in the X direction and the Zdirection so that the circular region 901 is included in the irradiationrange 900 of the x-rays, inspection can be performed through the slicedplane 700 in a state wherein the position of the placement stage 30 inthe XZ directions is fixed.

FIG. 19A illustrates a case where the circular region 901 is set so thatthe distance between the x-ray source 2 and the center 902 in theirradiation range 900 by x-rays is as small as possible. In this case,inspection of the entire specimen S is no longer possible, but itbecomes possible to obtain a transmission image of all the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603 at a high magnification from among the acquirabletransmission images. Note that in FIG. 19A it is omitted from thedrawing, but it is preferable that the positions of the circular region901 and the center 902 in the irradiation range 900 by x-rays aredecided so that the specimen S and the configuration of the x-rayinspection apparatus 100 do not interfere.

A magnification calculation unit 568 performs processing to positionmatch according to the above procedure. The magnification calculationunit 568 reads coordinates of the set evaluation region 600 out from thedata accumulation unit 58, and calculates the coordinates of the center902 and the diameter or radius of the circular region 901.

A concept for the magnification calculation unit 568 to calculate theposition of the center 902 of the circular region 901 will be describedusing FIG. 19B. The irradiation range 900 by x-rays radiated from thex-ray source 2, that is, the angle θ illustrated in FIG. 19B, is a knownvalue. Thus, the magnification calculation unit 568 calculates adistance p1 from the x-ray source 2 to the center 902 as D/2 sin(θ/2),using the diameter D of the calculated circular region 901, asillustrated in FIG. 19B. As described above, when inspecting thespecimen S, because the specimen S is placed so that the center 902 andthe rotation axis Yr of the placement stage 30 match, the distance p1from the x-ray source 2 to the center 902 is the distance from the x-raysource 2 to the placement stage 30 on the XZ plane. The magnificationcalculation unit 568 calculates the magnification of the transmissionimage using p2/p1, as publicly known, from the calculated distance p1and a distance p2 from the x-ray source 2 to the detector 4.

Next, position matching in a case where inspection is performed atdifferent magnifications according to the size of the evaluation region600 will be described with reference to FIGS. 20A and 20B. In thedescription below, a case will be illustrated wherein a new evaluationregion 605 is set to monitor the occurrence and cause of cavities in thecylinder block of the engine that is the specimen S. Shape grasping forcavities is one method of identifying drawn cavities or gas cavities. Itcan roughly be discerned that the cavity surface being a ragged shapemeans a drawn cavity due to constriction, and a smooth shape means a gascavity, but for this discernment, being able to distinguish as little as0.1 mm is desirable. For this reason, in the present embodiment,inspection of the evaluation region 600 is performed at a highmagnification. Thus, the number of voxels configuring the evaluationregion 600 in the inspection results can be increased compared to a casewhere an inspection of the evaluation region 600 is performed at a lowmagnification. Thus, by inspecting the evaluation region 600 at a highmagnification, shape grasping of the cavities in the evaluation region600 can be distinguished with high resolving power.

FIG. 20A illustrates a state wherein the evaluation regions 601, 602,603, 605 are projected on the projection plane P2, which is parallel tothe WU plane, for a cylinder block of an engine that is the specimen S,similar to FIG. 19A. Note that in FIG. 20A as well, the specimen S isplaced on the placement stage 30 so that a plane parallel to the WUplane of the specimen S is parallel to the XZ plane. As described above,the evaluation region 605 is set as a small region. For this reason,when the position of the placement stage 30 in the X direction and the Zdirection is decided so that the circular region 901 including theevaluation regions 601, 602, 603, 605 is included in the irradiationrange 900 by x-rays, a transmission image of the evaluation region 605at a high magnification can no longer be obtained.

In such a case, the circular region 901 is set for the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603 similar to the case in FIG. 19A, and a circularregion 911 including the evaluation region 605 is set for the evaluationregion 605. That is, a circular region 911 that is smaller than thecircular region 901 is set. Then, the position of the placement stage 30in the X direction and the Z direction is decided so that the circularregion 911 is included in the irradiation range 900 by x-rays. Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 20B, the circular region 911 is set on the sidecloser to the x-ray source 2 than the circular region 901.

When described in particular, the grouping unit 565 determines whetherthe size on the plane parallel to the XZ plane is greater than apredetermined value for each of a plurality of grid converted evaluationregions 610 using coordinate values in the UVW directions. The groupingunit 565 classifies grid converted evaluation regions 610 larger than apredetermined value into a third group G3, and classified grid convertedevaluation regions 610 smaller than a predetermined value into a fourthgroup G4, based upon the results of the determination. The magnificationcalculation unit 568 calculates the position of the placement stage 30and the magnification of the transmission image for each of the thirdgroup G3 and the fourth group G4 set by the grouping unit 565.

Note that one configuration in which information acquiring atransmission image at a high magnification is beforehand settable whensetting the evaluation region 605 is included in one aspect of thepresent invention. In this case, the grouping unit 565 should classifythe evaluation region 605 having set information into a group that isdifferent from the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603.

(7) A Case Based on Simulation Results

One example of regions 671 through 674 wherein occurrence of a drawncavity is predicted (hereinafter called predicted occurrence regions) ina case where a cylinder block of an engine is used as the specimen S isillustrated in FIGS. 21A and 21B. The crankshaft journal, cast pull pin,liner, cooling channel, and the like, which are handled as sites thatare functionally important to manage, are the evaluation region 600,which is a geometric shape with directions and places set in a design.Conversely, the predicted occurrence regions 671 through 674 derived ina simulation have irregular shapes in three-dimensional space, and inmany cases, the predicted occurrence regions 670 do not have planarityor directionality. Note that in FIGS. 21A and 21B, the shape of thepredicted occurrence regions 671 through 674 is schematically expressed.

In a case wherein the sliced plane 700 including the evaluation region600 is decided from predicted occurrence regions 671 through 674 derivedin a simulation, the sliced plane selection unit 563 selects the slicedplane 700 as follows. First, the sliced plane selection unit 563 selectsthe sliced plane 700 decided at the evaluation region 601 for thecrankshaft journal, the evaluation region 602 for the cast pull pin, theevaluation region 603 for the liner, the evaluation region 604 for thecooling channel, and the like, which are handled as sites that arefunctionally important to manage. That is, the sliced plane 700 and thesliced range 720 are selected as illustrated in FIG. 14B.

Afterwards, the sliced plane selection unit 563 resets the sliced range720 so that the predicted occurrence regions 671 through 674 areincluded in a range identical to the sliced range 720 selected asillustrated in FIG. 14B, or in a range stretching the sliced range 720in a direction orthogonal to the displacement direction of the slicedplane 700. That is, the sliced plane selection unit 563 shares thesliced range 720 by including the predicted occurrence regions 671through 674 into a sliced range 720 that has already selected, or into asliced range 720 expanded in a direction wherein the amount ofdisplacement of the sliced plane 700 does not increase, which leads toprevent inspection time from increasing. However, in a case where thesliced range 720 that has already been selected cannot be made to beshared, the sliced plane selection unit 563 newly selects a sliced range720 using the aforementioned method for predicted occurrence regions.

In FIG. 21B, the reselected or newly selected sliced range 720 andpredicted occurrence regions 671 through 674 are illustrated. Note thatin FIG. 21B, sliced ranges 720 other than the reselected or newlyselected sliced range 720 are omitted for the convenience of drawing.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 21A and 21B, the predictedoccurrence regions 671, 672 are made to share with the sliced range 720b illustrated in FIG. 14B, and a new sliced plane 720 f is reselected,as illustrated in FIG. 21B. The sliced plane selection unit 563 makesthe predicted occurrence region 674 included in the sliced range 720 eillustrated in FIG. 14B. Because the predicted occurrence region 673 hasno selected sliced range 720 that can be shared, the sliced planeselection unit 563 selects a new sliced plane 720 g including thepredicted occurrence region 674.

The evaluation region 600 set as described above, and the selectedsliced plane 700 and the sliced region 720 are stored and saved in thedata accumulation unit 58 as three dimensional data from the referenceposition. In a case where classification is performed by the groupingunit 565, the evaluation region 600 and the group G in which theevaluation region 600 is included are associated and stored and saved inthe data accumulation unit 58. Note that the storage place for each ofthe above described data may be external to the inspection processingdevice 1, and can be incorporated in three dimensional CAD data, or canbe incorporated in three dimensional shape data measured with an x-rayCT device or a three dimensional coordinate measurement instrument.

The setting processing for the evaluation region 600 by the inspectioncontrol unit 56, the setting processing for information for a latticegrid, and sliced plane and reference plane setting processing will bedescribed with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 22. A program toexecute each processing illustrated in the flowchart in FIGS. 19A and19B is stored beforehand in memory (not illustrated in the drawing), andis read out and executed by the inspection control unit 56.

In step S1, the evaluation region setting unit 561 sets the position andrange of the evaluation region 600 based on information input manuallyby an operator based on design information from three dimensional CAD orthe like, information from simulation results, information based onmeasurement data performed in the past, and the like; sets a settablerange R in a case where the evaluation region 600 has a settable rangeR, and stores the coordinate values in the data accumulation unit 58,and the flow proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the lattice grid setting unit 562 divides the evaluationregion 600 by lattice grid 650, as described above and generates gridconverted evaluation regions 610, and the flow proceeds to step S3. Instep S3, the sliced plane selection unit 563 sets a plane to be areference when partially scanning the specimen S (reference plane).Then, the sliced plane selection unit 563 selects a sliced plane 700displacing in the shortest direction of the grid converted evaluationregions 610 from among the XYZ directions for the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 of the specimen S, selects a sliced range 720that will be inspected through the sliced plane 700, and the flowproceeds to step S4. Note that in step S3, grouping of the gridconverted evaluation regions 610 is performed by the grouping unit 565according to the shape, distribution direction, and the like of theplurality of distributed grid converted evaluation regions 610. In stepS4, the selected sliced plane 700 and sliced range 720 are stored in thedata accumulation unit 58 as three dimensional data from the referenceplane, and the processing ends. Note that in a case where grouping isperformed in step S3, the evaluation region 600 and the group G in whichthe evaluation region 600 is included are associated and stored.

2.4. X-ray CT Inspection Processing

An inspection unit 564 causes the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 toperform a partial scan on the specimen S in the sliced range 720 via thesliced plane 700 selected by sliced plane and reference plane selectionprocessing. During the x-ray CT inspection, a range including theevaluation region 600 is inspected, and position matching is performedby inspecting a range including a reference plane.

Note that because the inspection error of the range including thereference plane is directly connected to the position error of theevaluation region 600, the inspection may be performed in increasedresolution, for example, by increasing the data acquisition frequency Nrfor one rotation of the CT, so as to reduce the reference planecalculation error in the range containing the reference plane.

Note that the means for measuring the reference plane are not limited tothe x-ray apparatus. For example, when setting the reference plane basedon surface information of the specimen S, measurement results fromnon-contact measurement means or contact-type measurement means may beused. Non-contact measurement means may be a light-cutting measurementmethod that utilizes line light. Contact measurement means may use atouch probe.

A description of the procedure of inspection preparation and inspectionprocessing is given below.

(1) Inspection Preparation

Prior to starting inspection, the inspection unit 564 controls themanipulator unit 36 via the movement control unit 52 to move theplacement stage 30, and positions the center of the placement stage 30at the position p2 calculated by the magnification calculation unit 568.The inspection unit 564 causes the display monitor 6 to performdisplaying for placing the specimen S on the placement stage 30 so thatthe center 902 calculated by the magnification calculation unit 568matches the center of the placement stage 30 that has completed moving,that is, the rotation axis Yr. In this case, the inspection unit 564causes the display monitor 6 to display the shape image of the specimenS based on design information such as 3-dimensional CAD and theevaluation region 600 superimposed on a background image showing a spaceon the interior of the chassis of the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 andthe irradiation range 900 of x-rays radiated from the x-ray source 2.Alternatively, if the chassis ceiling part of the x-ray inspectionapparatus 100 is configured such that the vicinity of the placementstage 30 is imageable via an imaging unit having an imaging elementcomposed of a CCD, CMOS, or the like, display like the following may beperformed. The inspection unit 564 causes the display monitor 6 todisplay an image showing the set evaluation region 600 and an image ofthe circular region 901 and the center 902 calculated by themagnification calculation unit 568, superimposed on an image of thespecimen S acquired by imaging the plane on the positive side of the Ydirection of the specimen S placed on the placement stage 30 via animaging unit. That is, an image corresponding to FIG. 19A is displayedon the display monitor 6. In the aforementioned manner, an operator canplace the specimen S so that the center 902 matches the center of theplacement stage 30, that is, the rotation axis Yr, while confirming theimage displayed on the display monitor 6.

Note that it is desirable to provide a jig for placement so it ispossible to reproduce the positioned state for other specimens S to beinspected sequentially. FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate an example having aplate-shaped member J1 placed on the placement stage 30 and a framemember J2 formed matching the shape of the specimen S for preventingoffset of the position of the specimen S on the placement stage 30 bysupporting the specimen S, as a jig J. Such a jig J is preferably notonly prepared matching the shape of the specimen S, but is preparedconsidering cases wherein the same specimen S is inspected a pluralityof times with different placement orientations. The jig J can improvework efficiency of inspection if it is machined and prepared at the stepwhere the placement orientations and position of the specimen S havebeen determined via information from when the evaluation region 600 wasset.

(2) Inspection Processing

First, a case wherein grouping of the evaluation regions 600 by thegrouping unit 565 has not been performed is described.

FIG. 24 is a figure which illustrates a case wherein an inspection isperformed on a specimen S, for which the sliced plane 700 and the slicedrange 720 have been selected, as illustrated in FIG. 9B. The inspectionunit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 via the movement control unit52 to rotationally drive and move in the Y direction the placement stage30, so that the transmission image for generating a reconstructed imageat the sliced ranges 720 a, 720 b, 720 c for inspecting the evaluationregions 601, 602, 603 becomes obtainable. That is, the inspection unit564 displaces the sliced plane 700 in the sliced ranges 720 a, 720 b,720 c according to the movement of the placement stage 30 in the Ydirection.

As illustrated in Formula (1) above, the amount of displacement of thesliced plane 700 corresponds to the inspection time. The evaluationregion 601 of the crankshaft journal portion of the specimen S has athickness of 2 mm in the Y direction, and four of them are arranged inthe Y direction. The evaluation region 602 of the cast pull pin has athickness of 10 mm in the Y direction, and four of them are arranged inthe Y direction. The evaluation region 603 of the liner portion has athickness of 2 mm in the Y direction, and three of them are arranged inthe Y direction. That is, the amount of displacement relative to theevaluation region 601 of the sliced plane 700 is

8 mm (=2 mm×4 arranged), the amount of displacement relative to theevaluation region 602 is

40 mm (=10 mm×4 arranged), and the amount of displacement relative tothe evaluation region 603 is

6 mm (=2 mm×3 arranged). Thus, when partially scanning the specimen S,the sliced plane 700 is required to be displaced a total of 54 mm. Asdescribed above, because two minutes of inspection time are needed forevery 1 mm, the inspection time for the entire partial scan is 1 hour 48minutes; compared to the inspection time of 13 hours or so whenperforming a full scan, the inspection time can be greatly shortened.

Next, a case wherein grouping of the evaluation regions 600 by thegrouping unit 565 has been performed is described.

First, the inspection processing in the case that the evaluation regions600 have been grouped into a first group G1 and a second group G2according to the direction that the evaluation regions 600 extend isdescribed. FIGS. 25A and 25B are drawings illustrating a case whereininspection is performed on a specimen S for which a first sliced plane700 a, a second sliced plane 700 b, and a sliced range 720 have beenselected, as illustrated in FIG. 14B. FIG. 25A illustrates a case wherea partial scan is performed on the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603,which have been grouped into the first group G1, and the inspection isperformed in a similar manner as the case in FIG. 24 described above.Thus, when partially scanning the specimen S, the first sliced plane 700a is displaced a total of 54 mm, and an inspection is performed in aninspection time of approximately 1 hour and 48 minutes.

When the inspection of the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 included inthe first group G1 is finished, a change of the placement orientation ofthe specimen S is performed, as illustrated in FIG. 25B. A change in theplacement orientation may be performed via human power by the operator,or may be performed using a manipulator such as a robot arm, which isnot pictured. When the change of the placement orientation finishes, theinspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 via the movementcontrol unit 52 to rotationally drive and move in the Y direction theplacement stage 30, so that a transmission image can be acquired in thesliced range 720 e for scanning the evaluation region 604 included inthe second group G2. That is, the scanning unit 564 displaces the secondsliced plane 700 b in the sliced range 720 d according to the movementof the placement stage 30 in the Y direction. The evaluation region 604of the cooling channel of the specimen S has a thickness of 10 mm in theZ direction, and because there is one of them arranged in the Zdirection, when the specimen S is partially scanned, the second slicedplane 700 b is displaced 10 mm, and the inspection is performed in aninspection time of approximately 20 minutes. If a change in theplacement orientation of the specimen S takes approximately 5 minutes oftime, the inspection time is approximately 2 hours and 13 minutes intotal, which reduces greatly the inspection time compared to a case ofperforming a full scan. When inspecting a plurality of evaluation planes600 with different extension directions obtained in this manner, theinspection is performed after the placement of the specimen S ischanged, and the obtained inspection data for which the positionmatching is performed is synthesized.

Note that the time needed for changing the placement orientation of thespecimen S may be input by the operator. Also, the time needed for achange in the orientation of the specimen S of the size, weight, and thelike of the specimen S may be estimated, and the time needed for achange in the orientation may be calculated. Also, the time needed for achange in the orientation may be calculated from the time needed for achange in the placement orientation in the past.

Note that in the above description, the inspection by the second slicedplane 700 b was performed after the inspection by the first sliced plane700 a, but the inspection by the first sliced plane 700 a may beperformed after the inspection by the second sliced plane 700 b.

As in the case illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B, when the evaluationregion 601 having a settable range R and the evaluation region 602 aremade to be shared and a sliced range 720 d is set, the amount ofdisplacement of the first sliced plane 700 a relative to one slicedrange 720 d becomes 10 mm, which is the thickness in the Y direction ofthe evaluation region 602 of the core pin. The sliced range 720 d isselected at four locations, and is 40 mm in total. As described above,because the total of the thickness in the Y direction of the evaluationregion 603 is 6 mm, when the specimen S is partially scanned, the firstsliced plane 700 a is displaced 46 mm in total, and an inspection isperformed in an inspection time of approximately 1 hour and 32 minutes.Thus, totaling the time needed for a change in the placement orientationof the sample S (approximately 5 minutes) and an inspection of thesecond sliced plane 700 b (approximately 20 minutes), the inspection canbe finished in approximately 1 hour and 57 minutes.

Next, the inspection processing in a case where the evaluation regions600 are grouped into a third group G3 and a fourth group G4 according tothe magnification of the transmission image is described.

In this case, a partial scan is performed on the evaluation regions 601,602, 603 grouped into the third group G3, as illustrated in FIG. 20Adescribed above. When the inspection of the third group G3 finishes, theinspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 via the movementcontrol unit 54 and moves the placement stage 30. The placement stage 30is moved so that the circular region 911 including the evaluation region605 grouped into the fourth group G4 is included in the irradiationrange 900 of the x-rays. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 20B, because theinspection for the evaluation region 605 is performed on the side closerto the x-ray source 2 than the evaluation regions 601, 602, 603 groupedinto the third group G3, a high-magnification transmission image can beacquired. That is, though some time is needed for movement of theplacement stage 30, highly detailed shape information about cavities inspecific sites can be acquired, and it can be used for the object ofdetermining from the shape of the cavity whether it is a drawn cavity ora gas cavity.

Note that in the above description, an inspection was performed from theevaluation region 600 grouped into the third group G3, but theinspection may be performed from the evaluation region 600 grouped intothe fourth group G4.

A case in which the evaluation regions 600 are grouped into firstthrough fourth groups G1 through G4 according to the difference inextension direction of the evaluation regions 600 and the magnificationof the transmission image will be described.

In this case, the inspection unit 564 executes a partial scan usingeither a first method or a second method below. Whether an inspection isperformed using the first method or the second method is configured tobe able to be set by an operator. Note that the x-ray inspectionapparatus 100 performing measurement using one method, either the firstmethod or the second method, is included as one aspect of the presentinvention.

First Method

In the first method, an inspection is performed such that groupedresults are given priority according to the extension direction of theevaluation regions 600. The inspection unit 564 performs an inspectionon the evaluation regions 600 that belong in the third group G3, fromamong the evaluation regions 600 of the first group G1. When theinspection of the evaluation regions 600 of the third group G3 finish,the inspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 via themovement control unit 54 and moves the placement stage 30, then performsan inspection of the evaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4. Thatis, an inspection is performed by the first sliced plane 700 a on theevaluation regions 600 of the third group G3 and the evaluation regions600 of the fourth group G4.

Afterward, the placement orientation of the specimen S is changed, andthe inspection unit 564 performs an inspection of the evaluation regions600 that belong to the fourth group G4, from among the evaluationregions 600 of the second group G2. When the inspection of theevaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4 is finished, theinspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 via the movementcontrol unit 54 and moves the placement stage 30, then performs aninspection of the evaluation regions 600 of the third group G3. That is,an inspection is performed by the second sliced plane 700 b on theevaluation regions 600 of the third group G3 and the evaluation regions600 of the fourth group G4.

Second Method

In the second method, an inspection is performed such that groupedresults are given priority according to the magnification of thetransmission image. The inspection unit 564 performs an inspection onthe evaluation regions 600 that belong to the first group G1, from amongthe evaluation regions 600 of the third group G3. When the inspection ofthe evaluation regions 600 of the first group G1 finish, and after theplacement orientation of the specimen S is changed, the inspection unit564 performs an inspection of the evaluation regions 600 of the secondgroup G2. That is, the inspection unit 564 causes an inspection to beperformed by the first sliced plane 700 a and the second sliced plane700 b on the evaluation regions 600 included in the circular region 901.

Afterward, the inspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36 viathe movement control unit 54 and moves the placement stage 30, thenperforms an inspection of the evaluation regions 600 included in thecircular region 911. The inspection unit 564 performs an inspection onthe evaluation regions 600 that belong in the second group G2, fromamong the evaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4. When theinspection of the evaluation regions 600 of the second group G2 finish,and after the placement orientation of the specimen S is changed, theinspection unit 564 performs an inspection of the evaluation regions 600of the first group G1. That is, the inspection unit 564 causes aninspection to be performed by the first sliced plane 700 a and thesecond sliced plane 700 b on the evaluation regions 600 included in thecircular region 911.

Note that the evaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4 are set tohave the object of inspecting small cavities, as described above.Letting the possibility be low that the shape of the cavities will tendtoward a predetermined direction, the inspection unit 564 may cause theevaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4 to be inspected by one ofeither the first sliced plane 700 a or the second sliced plane 700 b.

The x-ray CT inspection processing of the evaluation regions 600 by theinspection control unit 56 is described with reference to the flowchartof FIG. 26. The program for executing each processing illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 26 is stored beforehand in memory (not illustrated),and is read out and executed by the inspection control unit 56.

In step S11, the inspection unit 564 controls the manipulator unit 36via the movement control unit 52 and moves the placement stage 30 to apredetermined inspection position; the flow then proceeds to step S12.In step S12, it is determined whether there is a change in the placementorientation of the specimen S during inspection. When there is a changein the placement orientation, that is, when a plurality of sliced planes700 with different directions of displacement are selected by the slicedplane selection unit 563, an affirmative determination is made in stepS12; the flow then proceeds to step S14. When there is no change in theplacement orientation, that is, when a sliced plane 700 with onedirection of displacement is selected by the sliced plane selection unit563, a negative determination is made in step S12; the flow thenproceeds to step S13. In step S13, the manipulator unit 36 is controlledvia the x-ray source 2 and the movement control unit 52 to inspect thespecimen S on the selected sliced plane 700 and in the sliced range 720;the processing then ends.

In step S14, it is determined whether the grid converted evaluationregion 610 is grouped into the first to fourth groups G1, G2, G3, G4. Inthe case that it is grouped into the first to fourth groups G1, G2, G3,G4, an affirmative determination is made in step S14; the flow thenproceeds to step 18, described hereinafter. When it is grouped into thefirst group G1 and the second group G2, a negative determination is madein step S14; the flow then proceeds to step S15. In step S15, themanipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-ray source 2 and themovement control unit 52, and the specimen S is inspected at theselected first sliced plane 711; the flow then proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, it is on standby until the work of changing the placementorientation of the specimen S finishes; then, the flow proceeds to stepS17. In step S17, the manipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-raysource 2 and the movement control unit 52, and the specimen S isinspected at the selected second sliced plane 712; the processing thenends.

In step S18, it is determined whether the inspection according to thefirst method is set. In the case that the inspection is performedaccording to the first method, an affirmative determination is made instep S18; the flow then proceeds to step S19. In step S19, themanipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-ray source 2 and themovement control unit 52, and the specimen S is inspected at theselected first sliced plane 711 in the evaluation regions 600 of thethird group G3. Afterward, the manipulator unit 36 is controlled via themovement control unit 52 and the placement stage 30 is moved in the Zdirection; then, the manipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-raysource 2 and the movement control unit 52, and the specimen S isinspected at the selected first sliced plane 711 in the evaluationregions 600 of the fourth group G4; the flow then proceeds to step S20.

In step S20, similar to step S16, it is on standby until the work ofchanging the placement orientation of the specimen S finishes; the flowthen proceeds to step S21. In step S21, the manipulator unit 36 iscontrolled via the x-ray source 2 and the movement control unit 52, andthe specimen S is inspected at the selected second sliced plane 712 inthe evaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4. Afterward, themanipulator unit 36 is controlled via the movement control unit 52 andthe placement stage 30 is moved in the Z direction; then, themanipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-ray source 2 and themovement control unit 52, and the specimen S is inspected at theselected second sliced plane 712 in the evaluation regions 600 of thethird group G3; the processing then ends.

When the first method is not set, a negative determination is made instep S18; the flow then proceeds to step S22. In step S22, themanipulator unit 36 is controlled via the x-ray source 2 and themovement control unit 52, and the specimen S is inspected at theselected first sliced plane 711 in the evaluation regions 600 of thethird group G3; the flow then proceeds to step S23. In step S23, it ison standby until the work of changing the placement orientation of thespecimen S finishes; the flow then proceeds to step S24. In step S24,the specimen S is inspected at the selected second sliced plane 712 inthe evaluation regions 600 of the third group G3; the flow then proceedsto step S25.

In step S25, the manipulator unit 36 is controlled via the movementcontrol unit 52 and the placement stage 30 is moved in the Z direction;the flow then proceeds to step S26. In step S27, the manipulator unit 36is controlled via the x-ray source 2 and the movement control unit 52,and the specimen S is inspected at the selected second sliced plane 712in the evaluation regions 600 of the fourth group G4; the flow thenproceeds to step S27. In step S27, it is on standby until the work ofchanging the placement orientation of the specimen S finishes; the flowthen proceeds to step S28. In step S24, the specimen S is inspected atthe first sliced plane 711 in the evaluation regions 600 of the fourthgroup G4; the processing then ends.

Next, processing relating to the reconstructed image generated based onthe transmission image acquired by the inspection of the specimen S isdescribed. As processing relating to the reconsturucted image, artifactremoval processing and evaluation region update processing is performed.Each processing is described below.

Artifact Removal Processing

The image processing unit 59 performs artifact removal processing on thereconstructed image of the specimen S acquired from a full scan or apartial scan as described above.

For reconstructed images acquired by performing x-ray CT inspectionprocessing on a thick specimen S made of a low-density material or aspecimen S composed of a composite material, artifacts (images generatedin two dimensions that are not an actual substance) are generated due todifferences of transmission energy density when x-rays are transmittedthrough the specimen S. These artifacts have a large impact ongeneration of artificial defects and inspection errors of boundaryplanes during inspection and inspection processing. The image processingunit 59 removes artifacts generated in the reconstructed image via imageprocessing.

FIGS. 27A to 27D illustrate a streak artifact, which is line-shaped andis a noise factor generated frequently (see FIG. 27A) and a ringartifact, which is ring-shaped (see FIG. 27B). The image processing unit59 reduces noise elements by filling these two types of artifacts withthe average value of the brightness of the surrounding area, using thecharacteristics of their shapes. This can greatly reduce the imageediting operation needed before analysis, which is describedhereinafter. As a removal method for streak artifacts illustrated inFIG. 27A, the image processing unit 59 uses the characteristic of theartifact being line-shaped to perform image processing. As illustratedin FIG. 27C, the image processing unit 59 extracts a line-shaped region800 composed of straight line elements from the reconstructed image,finds the average value of the brightness of pixels neighboring on bothsides in the direction of the line width for each line-shaped region 800of the extracted straight line elements, and applies and replaces thepixel of the extracted line-shaped region 800 with that brightnessvalue. In FIG. 27C, for convenience in illustration, it is illustratedsuch that the lower the brightness value of the line-shaped region 800is, the more densely packed the dots are placed. Note that the thresholdvalue of the boundary conditions of the line-shaped region 800 to beextracted can be set to that it differs for each reconstructed image.Also, in reality, the width direction of the line-shaped region 800 iscomposed of a plurality of pixels.

As for a removal method for ring artifacts illustrated in FIG. 27B, theimage processing unit 59 uses characteristics in which the artifacts arering-shaped and are generated by darkness levels, scans in the radialdirection from the rotational center, and extracts circular pixel groupswhere ring-shaped singular points of difference are detected. The imageprocessing unit 59 finds the average value of the brightness of pixelsneighboring on both sides in the direction of the diameter of theextracted circular pixel group 810, and applies and replaces thecircular pixel group 810 with that brightness value. In FIG. 27D, forconvenience in illustration, it is illustrated such that the lower thebrightness value of the circular pixel group 810 is, the more denselypacked the dots are placed. Note that the threshold value of theboundary conditions of the roundness and the like to be extracted may beset, so that it differs for each image. Also, in reality, the circularpixel group is configured by a plurality of pixels. As described above,because the relationships between the rotation axis Yr of the placementstage 30 and the placement position of the specimen S are determined,the image processing unit 59 can easily perform identification of thecenter of the ring artifact by using information relating to therotation axis Yr relative to the sample S.

By removing artifacts like those described above, the quantitativeproperties such as volume ratio of cavities per unit volume orthickness, described hereinafter, can be increased. That is, theprecision of the inspection of the thickness and the volume ratio ofcavities can be increased. When the evaluation regions 600 are narroweddown, the time for data processing of the thickness, cavities, and thelike can be shortened. Regarding ring artifacts, when the center of thering artifact is outside the range of the evaluation region 600, it isdesirable to perform data processing for the thickness, cavities, andthe like regarding the evaluation regions 600 after performing artifactremoval processing in a range including the center.

Note that the generation of artifacts depends largely on the shape andstructure of the specimen in the evaluation region 600, as describedabove. That is, streak artifacts tend to be generated when the shape orstructure of the specimen in the evaluation region 600 is a straightline shape, and ring artifacts tend to be generated when the shape orstructure of the specimen in the evaluation region 600 is circular. Whensetting the evaluation regions 600 for the specimen S, it is desirableto associate information relating to artifact removal image processingsuitable for the evaluation regions 600 to the data relating to theevaluation regions 600, so as to carry out removal image processingsuitable for removing noise artifacts for the transmission imagerelating to the evaluation region 600.

As a result of the inspection of the specimen S, shape information ofthe specimen S is generated with such an artifact removal processing.The generated shape information of the specimen S is determined to begood or bad for each lattice grid unit based on non-defect factorparameters, which are described later; then, the non-defectdetermination result is displayed at the lattice grid unit. At thistime, shape model data (for example, CAD data) of the specimen S orshape data of the specimen S obtained from artifact removal processingmay be displayed superimposing the lattice grid. Also, the non-defectlevel calculation may be performed for each evaluation region instead oflattice grid units, and the results thereof may be performed. In thiscase, the non-defect level of the evaluation regions 600 can becalculated according to the average value or dispersion value of thenon-defect level of the lattice grid set in the evaluation regions 600.

Evaluation Region Update Processing

Evaluation region update processing is performed by the inspectionanalysis unit 57 based on inspection results of the specimen S inspectedby a full scan, or on inspection results of the specimen S inspected bya partial scan, in the manner described above. In evaluation regionupdate processing, the shape information generated based on theplurality of transmission images of the specimen S acquired from a fullscan or partial scan is analyzed, and based on the history of analysisresults, it is determined whether an update for the evaluation regions600 such as a shape change, position change, deletion, new addition, orthe like of the evaluation regions 600 set in the aforementioned mannershould be performed. The determined result is displayed on the displaymonitor 6, and when the update execution of the evaluation regions 600is permitted by an operator who has checked the determined result, theupdate of the evaluation regions 600 is performed based on the historyof the analysis results. In the present embodiment, updating theevaluation regions 600 means changing the shape (region expansion,region contraction, or region deletion) of the evaluation regions 600based on inspection results of shape information acquired from a partialscan, or a new addition of the evaluation region 600 based on theinspection result of shape information acquired from a full scan.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the inspection analysis unit 57 is providedwith a lattice grid converting unit 570, a volume ratio analysis unit571, a thickness analysis unit 572, a non-defectiveness analysis unit573, a non-defectiveness determination unit 574, a region correctionunit 575, a region addition unit 576, a region resetting unit 577, and adisplay control unit 578. The lattice grid converting unit 570 performslattice grid converting on a region corresponding to the evaluationregion 600, from among the shape information of the specimen S generatedfrom a partial scan, then displays shape information from the sameposition as the evaluation region 600 superimposed in a grid convertedevaluation region. Also, the lattice grid converting unit 570 performsposition matching for the shape information of the specimen S acquiredfrom the full scan and a lattice grid. In particular, during a partialscan, because shape information for the specimen S is generated only forsites set in the evaluation regions 600, a lattice grid which matchesplaces with the generated shape information is extracted, a measurementof volume ratio and thickness in the lattice grid unit, which arenon-defect inspection parameters, is performed relating to the extractedlattice grid, and non-defectiveness analysis is performed. Because onestring of analysis processing is performed relating only to latticegrids on which the evaluation region 600 is set, setting beforehand theevaluation regions 600 can not only reduce the time for a scan, butprevent the analysis processing time from increasing unnecessary, whichis described later.

The volume ratio analysis unit 571 calculates a volume ratio of internaldefects such as cavities for each lattice grid 650 on the shapeinformation of the specimen S acquired from a partial scan, and providesa volume ratio non-defect level according to the volume ratio. Thevolume ratio analysis unit 571 calculates the volume ratio of internaldefects such as cavities for each lattice grid 650 relating to alllattice grids 650 in which shape information exists, for shapeinformation of the specimen S acquired from a full scan, and provides avolume ratio non-defect level according to the volume ratio. Thethickness analysis unit 572 calculates the thickness of the specimen Sfor each lattice grid 650 applicable to positions corresponding to theevaluation regions 600, relating to shape information of the specimen Sacquired from a partial scan, and provides a thickness defect levelaccording to the thickness. The thickness analysis unit 572 calculatesthe thickness of the specimen S for each lattice grid 650, relating toall lattice grids 650 in which shape information exists, for shapeinformation of the specimen S acquired from a full scan, and provides athickness defect level according to the thickness.

The non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 sets the non-defect level, whichshows the non-defectiveness of each lattice grid 650 based on the volumeratio calculated by the volume ratio analysis unit 571 and the thicknesscalculated by the thickness analysis unit 572. When acquiring shapeinformation for a plurality of the specimen S that were manufactured bythe same process and have substantially the same shape, thenon-defectiveness analysis unit 573 calculates an evaluation indicatorrelating to the lattice grid 650 according to the history of non-defectlevels relating to each lattice grid 650 obtained from the shapeinformation. The non-defectiveness determination unit 574 determineswhether a change, deletion, or new addition of an evaluation region 600is necessary based on the evaluation indicator calculated by thenon-defectiveness analysis unit 573. When it is determined by thenon-defectiveness determination unit 574 that a change of an evaluationregion 600 is necessary, the region correction unit 575 generates datafor a corrected evaluation region, which changed the evaluation region600, and the display control unit 578 displays an image corresponding tothe data for the corrected evaluation region on the display monitor 6.

When it is determined that the new addition of an evaluation region 600is necessary, the region addition unit 576 generates data for theevaluation region 600 to be added, and the display control unit 578displays an image corresponding to the data for the additionalevaluation region, which is the evaluation region 600 to be added, onthe display monitor 6. When an operation of the input operation unit 11is received from the operator, who has checked the image of thecorrected evaluation region or the added evaluation region displayed onthe display monitor 6, the region resetting part 577 sets the correctedevaluation region or the added evaluation region as a new evaluationregion 600, and stores it in the data accumulation unit 58.

A detailed description is given below.

The update processing of evaluation regions of the specimen S on whichan inspection is performed by the x-ray inspection apparatus 100 usingthe results from performing successive non-defectiveness determinationsat the time of volume manufacturing for specimens S that have beenmanufactured by the same process and have substantially the same shapeis described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 28. The programfor executing each processing illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 28 isstored beforehand in memory (not illustrated), and is read out andexecuted by the inspection analysis unit 57.

In step S31, it is determined whether the acquired shape information ofthe specimen S has been obtained from a partial scan or has beenobtained from a full scan. In the case of shape information obtainedfrom a partial scan, an affirmative determination is made in step S31;the flow then proceeds to step S32; in the case of shape informationobtained from a full scan, a negative determination is made in step S31;the flow then proceeds to step S34. Note that as described above,inspections of the specimen S by shape information obtained from a fullscan are performed with a very low frequency. This is because a fullscan requires a very long time to acquire a reconstructed image of theentire specimen S. The inspection time to acquire a reconstructed imageis very long compared to the cycle time on a manufacturing line on whichthe specimen S is manufactured. Thus, most of the inspections of thespecimen S are performed via a partial scan. A partial scan may beperformed relating to all of the specimens S manufactured in a largequantity, or may be performed for every few (for example, five or ten)from among the specimens S manufactured in a large quantity.

In step S32, the inspection analysis unit 57 performs evaluation regionanalysis processing relating to the shape information of the specimen Spositioned in the evaluation region 600 obtained from a partial scan;the flow then proceeds to step S33. In step S33, the inspection analysisunit 57 performs evaluation region change processing; the processingthen ends. Note that the details of evaluation region analysisprocessing and evaluation region change processing are describedhereinafter. At step S34, the inspection analysis unit 57 performs broadregion analysis processing on shape information of a broad region(called broad region shape information hereinafter) of the specimen Sobtained from a full scan; the flow then proceeds to step S35. In stepS35, evaluation region addition processing is performed; the processingthen ends. Note that in the case of a full scan, because shapeinformation is obtained for regions set as an evaluation region, anon-defectiveness determination may be performed based on shapeinformation already set on evaluation regions, and the deletion orchange processing for the evaluation region may be performed. Detailsfor broad region analysis processing and evaluation region additionprocessing are described hereinafter.

In the description below, the description is given divided intoevaluation region analysis processing, evaluation region changeprocessing, broad region analysis processing, and evaluation regionaddition processing.

Evaluation Region Analysis Processing

In evaluation region analysis processing, internal defects such ascavities and the thickness are detected from the shape informationpositioned at the evaluation region 600 of the specimen S acquired froma partial scan and an analysis relating to the non-defectiveness of thespecimen S is performed, such as that there is a high possibility of thespecimen S being a defective product due to the detected cavities, thatthere is a possibility of strength insufficiency, that there is apossibility of a leak occurring, and the like. A detailed description isgiven below.

When performing evaluation region analysis processing, simplification ofprocessing is achieved by performing processing on units of lattice grid650 relating to the shape information of the evaluation region 600.Because of this, the lattice grid converting unit 570 extracts a latticegrid corresponding to the evaluation region 600. Then, shape informationof the specimen S corresponding to the extracted lattice grid (calledevaluation region shape information hereinafter) is extracted, and eachlattice grid and shape information are associated. In this case, thelattice grid converting unit 570 reads out the coordinate value of theevaluation region 600 stored on the data accumulation unit 58 andidentifies the lattice grid corresponding to the coordinate value of theevaluation region 600. Further, the lattice grid extracts the latticegrid corresponding to the reference plane set on the specimen S.Meanwhile, the shape information of the specimen S includes shapeinformation corresponding to the position of the reference plane, inaddition to shape information corresponding to the position of thereference region 600. Further, because the positional relationship ofthe shape information of both can be grasped, by causing the latticegrid corresponding to the shape information of the reference plane andthe position of the reference plane to match, the lattice grididentified on the evaluation region 600 and the shape information of thespecimen S in the same position can be made to correspond. In thismanner, the lattice grid is identified as a target of analysisprocessing.

Next, the volume ratio analysis unit 571 detects the existence ofcavities in each lattice grid 650 identified in the above manner, and inthe case that a cavity is detected, calculates the volume ratio of thecavity in the lattice grid 650. The volume ratio analysis unit 571 usesa publicly known method to recognize polygon groups other than thepolygon groups applicable to the boundary plane with the exterior(outside air) of the specimen S as the boundary plane with the hollowportions of the internal defects of the specimen S from a generatedpolygon surface model, and generates a blowhole model combining thesepolygons. The volume ratio analysis unit 571 finds the volume ofcavities for each lattice grid 650 relating to this blowhole model, andcalculates the volume ratio by dividing it by the volume of the latticegrid 650.

The lattice grid 650 includes those which are partially superimposedwith the cavity model, and those which are entirely superimposed withthe cavity model. Thus, the volume ratio of cavities is different foreach lattice grid 650. The volume ratio analysis unit 571 sets thevolume ratio non-defect level, which shows the non-defectivenessaccording to the volume ratio calculated for each lattice grid 650. Inthis case, for example, it can be set such that when the volume ratio is0 percent to 20 percent, the volume ratio non-defect level is 4; when 20percent to 40 percent, the volume ratio non-defect level is 3; when 40percent to 60 percent, the volume ratio non-defect level is 2; when 60percent to 80 percent, the volume ratio non-defect level is 1; and when80 percent to 100 percent, the volume ratio non-defect level is 0. Notethat in this case, it is expressed that the more the value of the volumeratio non-defect level declines, the higher the possibility will be ofbringing about a major defect in the specimen S. The set volume rationon-defect level is associated with a coordinate value of the latticegrid 650 and stored in the data accumulation unit 58. Note thatconcerning the value of the volume ratio non-defect level relating tothe volume ratio, a configuration that allows setting by the operator isalso included in one aspect of the present invention.

The thickness analysis unit 572 calculates the thickness for eachlattice grid 650 relating to the grid converted evaluation regiontransmission image. The thickness analysis unit 572 uses a publiclyknown polygon surface model to calculate the thickness based on thedistance in the direction of the normal line set from each position ofthe boundary plane with the hollow portion of an internal defect. Thethickness analysis unit 572 sets a thickness non-defect level showingthe non-defectiveness according to the degree of difference between thethickness calculated at each lattice grid 650 and shape information ofthe specimen S that is the ideal model (for example, shape informationsuch as CAD, shape information acquired by the x-ray inspectionapparatus 100 of a sample S determined to be non-defective in the past,or the like). In this case, for example, relating to shape informationof the specimen S that is the ideal model, it may be set such that thethickness non-defect level is 0 when the acquired difference inthickness of the specimen S exceeds the allowable tolerance range in thedirection of being thin; the thickness non-defect level is 1 when thedifference in thickness is within the allowable tolerance range in thedirection of being thin, but is at least 80 percent of the allowabletolerance range; and the thickness non-defect level is 2 when thedifference in thickness is within the allowable tolerance range in thedirection of being thin and is less than 80 percent of the allowedtolerance range. Note that in this case, it is expressed that the morethe value of the thickness non-defect level decreases, the higher thepossibility will be of bringing about a major defect in the specimen S.The set thickness non-defect level is associated with a coordinate valueof the lattice grid 650 and stored in the data accumulation unit 58.Note that concerning the value of the thickness non-defect levelrelating to the thickness, a configuration that allows setting by theoperator is also included in one aspect of the present invention.

The non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 sets the non-defect levelshowing the non-defectiveness of each lattice grid 650 from the volumeratio non-defect level set by the volume ratio analysis unit 571 and thethickness non-defect level set by the thickness analysis unit 572. Thenon-defectiveness analysis unit 573 sets a non-defect level of 0 to 4for each lattice grid 650, for example. When the non-defect level is 0,it shows that the possibility of bringing about a defect in the specimenS is very high; when it is 4, the possibility of bringing about a defectin the specimen S is very low.

An example of the non-defect level set from the volume ratio non-defectlevel and the thickness non-defect level is illustrated in FIG. 29. Notethat a configuration which has the relationship illustrated in FIG. 29able to be set by an operator is included in one aspect of the presentinvention.

The non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 associates the non-defect levelset for each shape information measured from each specimen S with thelattice grid 650, and stores it in the data accumulation unit 58. Byperforming measurements on a plurality of specimens S, a history of aplurality of non-defect levels is accumulated for the same lattice grid650. When the history count reaches or exceeds a predetermined number,that is, when the measurement count of the specimen S reaches or exceedsa predetermined count, the history of the plurality of non-defect levelsis used to calculate an evaluation indicator for each lattice grid 650.The non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 calculates, for example, theaverage or standard deviation of the non-defect level of lattice grids650 in the same position as an evaluation coefficient. The ratio ofchange in time of the non-defect level or the like may also be used asthe evaluation coefficient. This evaluation coefficient corresponds toeach lattice grid 650 and is updated for each measurement count.

When the evaluation coefficient of the lattice grid 650 calculated bythe non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 is greater than or equal to afirst threshold, or when the evaluation coefficient exceeds a firstpredetermined range, the non-defectiveness determination unit 574determines that the region on the specimen S corresponding to thatlattice grid 650 has a high possibility of generating a defect on thespecimen S. Further, in a case where the evaluation coefficient for thelattice grid 650 calculated by the non-defectiveness analysis unit 573is less than the second threshold (< the first threshold), or when it isin a second predetermined range (a range such as one where theevaluation coefficient illustrates a higher direction ofnon-defectiveness compared to the first predetermined range), thenon-defectiveness determination unit 574 determines that the probabilitythat the region of the specimen S corresponding to the lattice grid 650will generate defects is low, and can be deleted from the evaluationregion 600. Evaluation region update processing, which is describedhereinafter, is performed based on the determination result of thenon-defectiveness determination unit 574.

Evaluation region analysis processing of step S32 of FIG. 28 isdescribed with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 30.

In step S40, the lattice grid converting unit 570 sets a lattice grid650 on the evaluation region 600; the flow then proceeds to step S41. Instep S41, in the case of a partial scan, the lattice grid convertingunit 570 position matches the shape information of the specimen Sgenerated based on the transmission image with the lattice grid, andextracts shape information of the specimen S matching the lattice gridposition matched on the evaluation region 600; the flow then proceeds tostep S42. Also, in the case of a full scan, the lattice grid convertingunit 570 simply position matches the shape information of the specimen Swith the lattice grid 650. In step S42, the volume ratio analysis unit571 calculates the volume ratio for each extracted lattice grid 650, andsets a volume ratio non-defect level; the flow then proceeds to stepS43.

In step S43, the thickness analysis unit 572 calculates a thickness foreach extracted lattice grid 650, and sets a thickness non-defect level;the flow then proceeds to step S44. In step S44, the non-defectivenessanalysis unit 573 sets a non-defect level for the lattice grid 650 fromthe volume ratio non-defect level and the thickness non-defect level setto the same lattice grid 650, and stores the following information foreach lattice grid 650; the flow then proceeds to step S45. The storedinformation is given below. It is information relating to the number ofinspection analyses by the inspection analysis unit 57, the volume ratioand the difference of the thickness for each inspection analysis, andwhether it was set to an evaluation region for each inspection.

In step S45, the inspection analysis unit 57 adds 1 to a count N of acounter which counts the number of inspection analyses on the specimenS; the flow then proceeds to step S46. In step S46, the inspectionanalysis unit 57 determines whether the number of inspection analyses ofthe specimen S is greater than or equal to a predetermined number oftimes. When the number of inspection analyses is greater than or equalto a predetermined number of times, that is, when the count N of thecounter is greater than or equal to a threshold Nth, an affirmativedetermination is made in step S46; the flow then proceeds to step S47.When the number of inspection analyses is less than a predeterminednumber of times, that is, when the count N of the counter is less thanthe threshold Nth, a negative determination is made in step S46; theprocessing then ends.

In step S47, the non-defectiveness analysis unit 573 calculates theevaluation coefficient of the lattice grid 650; the flow then proceedsto step S48. In step S48, the non-defectiveness determination unit 574determines whether the calculated evaluation coefficient is greater thanor equal to the first threshold (or if it exceeds the firstpredetermined range). When the evaluation indicator is greater than orequal to the first threshold (or exceeds the first predetermined range),an affirmative determination is made at step S48; the flow then proceedsto evaluation region change processing in step S33, the details of whichare described hereinafter. Note that in this case, an addition changeflag which shows that it is desirable to add a region of the specimen Scorresponding to the lattice grid 650 to the evaluation region 600 isset to ON.

When the evaluation coefficient is less than the first threshold (ordoes not exceed the first predetermined range), a negative determinationis made in step S48; the flow then proceeds to step S49. In step S49,the non-defectiveness determination unit 574 determines whether theevaluation coefficient is less than a second threshold (or is in asecond predetermined range). When the evaluation coefficient is lessthan the second threshold (or is in the second predetermined range), anaffirmative determination is made at step S49; the flow then proceeds toevaluation region change processing in step S33, the details of whichare described hereinafter. Note that in this case, a possible deletionflag showing that it is possible to delete a region of the specimen Scorresponding to the lattice grid 650 from the evaluation region 600 isset to ON. When the evaluation coefficient is greater than or equal tothe second threshold (or exceeds the second predetermined range), anegative determination is made at step S49; the processing then ends.

Evaluation Region Change Processing

In evaluation region change processing, a display for recommendingchanges for the evaluation region 600 to an operator based on theresults of evaluation region analysis processing is performed on thedisplay monitor 6. When an operation for performing a change on theevaluation region 600 is performed by an operator, a new evaluationregion 600 that reflects the results of evaluation region analysisprocessing is set, and the coordinate values thereof are stored in thedata accumulation unit 58. As a result, during measurement the followingtime and thereon, the selection of the sliced plane 700 and the slicedrange 720 described above is performed based on the new evaluationregion 600, and measurement of the specimen S is performed. A detaileddescription is given below.

Relating to the lattice grid 650 that has the addition change flag setto ON by the non-defectiveness determination unit 574, when the latticegrid 650 exists on the outer periphery of the grid converted evaluationregion transmission image, the region correction unit 575 generates datafor a corrected evaluation region. In this case, when there is a latticegrid 650 that has the addition change flag set to ON, the regioncorrection unit 575 generates data for a corrected evaluation region.Note that in the following description, the lattice grid 650 that hasthe addition change flag set to ON is called the lattice grid 655scheduled to be changed.

The generation of data for a corrected evaluation region isschematically illustrated in FIGS. 31A to 31D. Note that the actualprocessing is performed in three dimensions, though it is expressed intwo dimensions to understand the invention in FIGS. 31A to 31 D. Whenthe outer periphery of the grid converted evaluation region 680illustrated in FIG. 31A, that is, one of the lattice grids 650illustrated with a slanted line, exceeds the first threshold, the regioncorrection unit 575 generates data for a corrected evaluation region. Anexample of data 681 for a corrected evaluation region generated by theregion correction unit 575 is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 31B to31D. In FIG. 31B, the lattice grid 650, which has slanted lines fromamong the grid converted evaluation region 680, is the lattice grid 655scheduled to be changed, and it is assumed that a lattice grid 650exists on the exterior of the grid converted evaluation region 680. Atthis time, the three regions 656 illustrated with a dotted line are thelattice grids 656 (below, the additional lattice grid) surrounding thelattice grid 655 scheduled to be changed. When the lattice grid 655scheduled to be changed exists in the position illustrated in FIG. 31C,the five additional lattice grids 656 illustrated by the dotted lineexist in the periphery. When the lattice grid 655 scheduled to bechanged exists in the position of the grid converted evaluation region680 that protrudes having the shape illustrated in FIG. 31D, the fiveadditional lattice grids illustrated by the dotted line exist in theperiphery. The region correction unit 575 adds the additional latticegrid 656 to the grid converted evaluation region 680, and generates data681 for the corrected evaluation region so that it includes the regionillustrated by the additional lattice grid 656 for the evaluation region600. Relating to the lattice grid 650 that has the possible deletionflag set to ON by the non-defectiveness determination unit 574, theregion correction unit 575 deletes the lattice grid 650 that has thepossible deletion flag set to ON from the grid converted evaluationregion 680, and generates data 681 for the corrected evaluation region.

When the data 681 for the corrected evaluation region is generated, thedisplay control unit 578 displays an image corresponding to the data 681for the corrected evaluation region on the display monitor 6. At thistime, the display control unit 578 displays an image corresponding tothe data 681 for the corrected evaluation region on an imagerepresenting the shape of the specimen S based on design information. Inthis case, the display control unit 578 causes the mode of display forlocations of the data 681 for the corrected evaluation region that ischanged from the grid converted evaluation region 680 to differ from themode of display for locations which is not changed. That is, when theadditional lattice grid 656 is added by the region correction unit 575,the display control unit 578 causes the position corresponding to theadditional lattice grid 656 to be displayed with, for example, red, andpositions corresponding to other lattice grids 650 to be displayed withchanged colors such as green. Also, when the lattice grid 650 that hasthe possible deletion flag set to ON by the region correction unit 575is deleted, the display control unit 578 causes the positioncorresponding to the lattice grid 650 to be displayed with, for example,blue, and the other lattice grids 650 to be displayed with changedcolors such as green.

Note that changing the line thickness and the type of line (solid line,dotted line, dash-dot line) without being limited to displaying withdiffering colors is also included in one aspect of the presentinvention. When displaying history data of the data 681 for thecorrected evaluation region on the display monitor 6, history data forevaluation regions 600 with similar shapes may be displayed side byside. For example, when displaying history data for the data 681 for thecorrected evaluation region for the evaluation region 601 of onecrankshaft journal unit, by displaying the history data for theevaluation region 601 of another crankshaft journal unit side by side,it can be decided whether a casting plan is good or bad.

Also, for a non-defect level calculated by each lattice grid 650 of agrid converted evaluation region included in the same evaluation region600, a possible deletion flag may be set for the entire evaluationregion 600 according to the non-defect level average value andnon-defect level distribution value for each evaluation region 600. Inthis case, for example, it may be displayed with differing colors toencourage deletion of either the grid converted evaluation region or theevaluation region.

An operator can, by observing the display monitor 6 on which the abovedisplay has been performed, from a result of measurement, grasp how theevaluation region 600 should be corrected to be desirable for measuringthe interior defects such as cavities of the specimen S. When adopting acorrection of the grid converted evaluation region transmission image680 via the region correction unit 575, an operator performs theadoption operation by clicking on an “OK” button or the like displayedon the display monitor 6 using, for example, a mouse or the likecomposing the input operation unit 11. When an operation signal isoutput from the input operation unit 11 according to the adoptionoperation of the operator, the region resetting unit 577 sets a regionon the specimen S corresponding to the data 681 for the correctedevaluation region generated by the region correction unit 575 as the newevaluation region 600, and stores the coordinate values thereof in thedata accumulation unit 58. At this time, the region resetting unit 577stores the date and time when the new evaluation region 600 was set,information for identifying the operator who decided to adopt the newevaluation region 600 (name, ID, or the like), the position of the newevaluation region 600 (an index number or the like), notes or commentsinput by the operator, and the like as related information into the dataaccumulation unit 58.

Note that the display control unit 578 can display a variety of data onthe display monitor 6 when displaying an image of the data 681 for thecorrected evaluation region described above. As data to be displayed atthis time, there are the non-defect level of the additional lattice grid656 or the lattice grid 650 that has the possible deletion flag set toON, the volume ratio and the difference of the thickness, which is arefactors for determining non-defect level. Also, history data having beenobtained from shape information or inspection analysis of the specimen Sin past can be displayed as data to be displayed. Also, a photographacquired separately of the specimen S taken by an optical camera may beaccumulated as one history data. In particular, when the position of thelattice grid 650 matches the surface region of the specimen S, it isdesirable to include photograph data taken by an optical camera in thehistory data. As history data, there is a transition for non-defectlevel, volume ratio, and thickness. In this case, it should be displayedin a graph format wherein the number of inspection analyses is thehorizontal axis and the frequency of the evaluation coefficientcalculated from the non-defect level, the volume ratio, and thedifference of the thickness found from the non-defect level is thevertical axis. Further, as history data, the transition of the shapechange of the evaluation region 600 can also be displayed superimposedon the image of the shape of the specimen S. In the case that a shapechange was carried out on the evaluation region 600 a plurality oftimes, it is desirable to cause a display mode (color, line thickness,line type, or the like) of the image of each evaluation region 600 todiffer.

Note that history data like that described above is not limited to thecorrected evaluation region, and it is desirable to display it on thelattice grid 650 in an evaluation region that does not need correction.This is because knowing the change in determination factors ofnon-defectiveness is helpful in predicting defective products generatedin the future. Also, in order to reduce the load on an inspector ofmass-produced goods, the history data may be displayed in evaluationregion units, instead of displaying history data in lattice grid units.In particular, concerning the non-defect level, even within the sameevaluation region, it may differ between individual lattice grids 650.In such a case, the evaluation coefficient in the evaluation regionshould be set according to the average value, dispersion, or the like ofthe non-defect level calculated at each lattice grid 650 in the sameevaluation region. Also, the display of history data by simply displayedto an operator regardless of the existence of a correction process ofthe evaluation region brings about an effect to save labor in theinspection process of quality assurance for the mass-produced good.

Evaluation region change processing of step S33 of FIG. 28 is describedwith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 32.

In step S50, the region correction unit 575 determines whether theaddition change flag of the lattice grid 650 is set to ON. When theaddition change flag is set to ON, an affirmative determination is madein step S50; the flow then proceeds to step S51. In step S51, it isdetermined whether the lattice grid 650 exists on the peripheral part ofthe grid converted evaluation region 680. When it is not in theperipheral part of the grid converted evaluation region 680, a negativedetermination is made in step S51; the processing then ends. When it isin the peripheral part of the grid converted evaluation region 680, anaffirmative determination is made in step S51; the flow then proceeds tostep S53.

In step S50, when the addition change flag is set to OFF, a negativedetermination is made at step S50; the flow then proceeds to step S52.In step S521, it is determined whether the deletable flag of the latticegrid 650 is set to ON. When the deletable flag is set to OFF, a negativedetermination is made in step S52; the processing then ends. When thedeletable flag is set to ON, an affirmative determination is made instep S52; the flow then proceeds to step S53. In step S53, the regioncorrection unit 575 generates the data 681 for the corrected evaluationregion; the flow then proceeds to step S54.

In step S54, the display control unit 578 displays the imagecorresponding to the data 681 for the corrected evaluation regionsuperimposed on the image corresponding to the shape of the specimen Son the display monitor 6; the flow then proceeds to step S55. In stepS55, it is determined whether an adoption operation has been performedby an operator. When an operation signal according to the adoptionoperation of the operator is input from the input operation unit 11, anaffirmative determination is made in step S55; the flow then proceeds toS56. When an operation signal according to the employed operation is notinput from the input operation unit 11, a negative determination is madein step S55; the processing then ends. In step S56, the region on thespecimen S corresponding to the data 681 for the corrected evaluationregion is set as a new evaluation region 600, and the coordinate valuethereof is stored in the data accumulation unit 58; the processing thenends.

Broad Region Analysis Processing

In broad region analysis processing, internal defects such as cavitiesin the region other than the evaluation region 600 are detected from thetransmission image of the specimen S acquired from a full scan, andanalysis is performed relating to non-defectiveness of the specimen S,such as there being high possibility of the specimen S being a defectiveproduct due to the detected cavities, there being a possibility ofstrength insufficiency, there being a possibility of a leak occurring,and the like. A detailed description is given below.

When performing broad region analysis processing, processingsimplification is attained by performing processing on lattice grid 650units for the acquired shape information of the specimen S. Because ofthis, the lattice grid converting unit 570 compartmentalizes by latticegrid 650 the broad shape information including regions other than theevaluation region 600 acquired from a full scan by lattice grids 650.Below, the volume ratio analysis unit 571, the thickness analysis unit572, the non-defectiveness analysis unit 573, and the non-defectivenessdetermination unit 574 perform similar processing to the processing foreach lattice grid 650 described in the evaluation region analysisprocessing described above. As a result, when, among the shapeinformation of the grid converted broad region, the evaluationcoefficient of the lattice grid 650 of the region different from theregion corresponding to the evaluation region 600 from among the gridconverted broad shape information is greater than or equal to the firstthreshold, the non-defectiveness determination unit 574 determines thatthe region of the specimen S corresponding to that lattice grid 650 hasa high possibility of generating a defect. In this case, thenon-defectiveness determination unit 574 sets a new addition flag to ON,showing that it is desirable to newly add the lattice grid 650 as a newevaluation region 600.

Broad region analysis processing of step S34 of FIG. 28 is describedwith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 33.

In step S60, the lattice grid converted unit 570 sets the lattice grid650 for the shape information of the entire specimen S generated basedon the transmission image obtained from a full scan; the flow thenproceeds to step S61. Each processing from step S61 (volume ratiocalculation) to step S67 (determining whether the evaluation coefficientis greater than or equal to a threshold) is similar to each processingfrom step S42 (volume ratio calculation) to step S47 (determiningwhether the evaluation coefficient is greater than or equal to athreshold) of FIG. 30. However, the above processing is performed foreach lattice grid 650, even for regions outside the region correspondingto the evaluation region 600.

In step S68, it is determined whether a region on the specimen Scorresponding to the lattice grid 650 determined to have an evaluationcoefficient that is greater than or equal to the first threshold (orexceeding the first predetermined range) is a region outside theevaluation region 600. When it is a region other than the evaluationregion 600, an affirmative determination is made in step S68; the flowthen proceeds to step 35 in FIG. 28. In this case, the new addition flagof the lattice grid 650 is set to ON. When the region corresponding tothe lattice grid 650 is the evaluation region 600, a negativedetermination is made at step S68; the processing then ends.

Note that in the broad region analysis processing, step S48 of FIG. 30may be executed on the lattice grid 650 in the evaluation region 600. Inthis case, the aforementioned processing is performed after step S66.

Evaluation Region Addition Processing

In evaluation region addition processing, a display for recommending toan operator the addition of a new evaluation region 600 is performed onthe display monitor 6 based on the results of broad region analysisprocessing. When an operation for performing a new addition of theevaluation region 600 is performed by an operator, a new evaluationregion 600 is additionally set, and the coordinate values thereof arestored in the data accumulation unit 58. As a result, during measurementthe following time and thereon, the selection of the sliced plane 700and the sliced range 720 described above is performed based on the newlyadded evaluation region 600, and measurement of the specimen S isperformed. A detailed description is given below.

The region addition unit 576 identifies the lattice grids 650 that havea new addition flag set to ON by the non-defectiveness determinationunit 574 as data for a newly added evaluation region. When data for thenewly added evaluation region is generated, the display control unit 578displays an image corresponding to the data for the newly addedevaluation region on the display monitor 6. At this time, the displaycontrol unit 578 displays an image corresponding to the data of thenewly added evaluation region on an image representing the shape of thespecimen S based on design information. Note that in this case also, thedisplay control unit 578 can display various data and history data in asimilar manner to the case described for evaluation region correctionprocessing.

An operator can, by observing the display monitor 6 on which the abovedisplay has been performed, from a result of measurement, grasp how thenew evaluation region 600 should be added to be desirable for measuringthe interior defects such as cavities of the specimen S. When adoptingan addition of the data of the newly added evaluation region via theregion addition unit 576, an operator performs the adoption operation byclicking on an “OK” button or the like displayed on the display monitor6 using, for example, a mouse or the like configuring the inputoperation unit 11. When an operation signal is output from the inputoperation unit 11 according to the adoption operation of the operator,the region resetting unit 577 sets a region on the specimen Scorresponding to the data of the newly added evaluation region generatedby the region addition unit 576 as the new evaluation region 600, andstores the coordinate values thereof in the data accumulation unit 58.At this time, the region resetting unit 577 stores the date and timewhen the new evaluation region 600 was set, information for identifyingthe operator who decided to adopt the new evaluation region 600 (name,ID, or the like), the position of the new evaluation region 600 (anindex number or the like), notes or comments input by the operator,pictures (image data) and the like illustrating the outer appearance ofthe specimen S at that time, and the like as related information intothe data accumulation unit 58.

Evaluation region addition processing of step S35 of FIG. 28 isdescribed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 34.

In step S70, the region addition unit 576 determines whether the newaddition flag is ON for the lattice grid 650. When the new addition flagis set to OFF, a negative determination is made at step S70; theprocessing then ends. When the new addition flag is set to ON, anaffirmative determination is made in step S70; the flow then proceeds tostep S71.

In step S71, the region addition unit 576 identifies the lattice grid650 as data for the newly added evaluation region; the flow thenproceeds to step S72. In step S72, the display control unit 578 displaysan image corresponding to data of the newly added evaluation regionsuperimposed on an image corresponding to the shape of the specimen S;the flow then proceeds to step S73. In step S73, it is determinedwhether an adoption operation was performed by an operator. When anoperation signal according to the adoption operation of the operator isinput from the input operation unit 11, an affirmative determination ismade in step S73; the flow then proceeds to step S74. When an operationsignal according to the adoption operation is not input from the inputoperation unit 11, a negative determination is made in step S73; theprocessing then ends. In step S74, regions on the specimen Scorresponding to the data of the newly added evaluation region are setas the new evaluation regions 600, and the coordinate values thereof arestored in the data accumulation unit 58; the processing then ends.

An embodiment of the structure manufacturing system including the x-rayinspection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, discussed above, is described. The structure manufacturingsystem creates model component such as, for example, a door portion, anengine portion, or a gear portion of an automobile, or electriccomponent that incorporates an electrical circuit board and like.

FIG. 35 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a configurationof a structure manufacturing system 400 according to the presentembodiment. The structure manufacturing system 400 is provided with thex-ray inspection apparatus 100 described in the embodiment, a designdevice 410, a molding device 420, a control system 430, and a repairdevice 440.

The design device 410 is a device used by a user when creating designinformation relating to a shape of a structure and performs designprocessing for creating and storing the design information. The designinformation is information indicating coordinates of each position ofthe structure. The design information is output to the molding device420 and the control system 430, which is described below. The moldingdevice 420 performs molding processing for creating and molding thestructure using the design information created by the design device 410.In this case, a molding device 420 that performs at least one oflaminating which is representative in 3D-printer technology, castmachining, forge machining, and cut machining is also included in oneaspect of the present invention.

The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 performs inspection processing forinspecting a shape of the structure molded by the molding device 420.The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 outputs to the control system 430information indicating coordinates of the structure (“shape information”hereinbelow), which is an inspection result of inspecting the structure.The control system 430 is provided with a coordinate storage unit 431and an inspection unit 432. The coordinate storage unit 431 stores thedesign information created by the design device 410 described above.

The inspection unit 432 determines whether the structure molded by themolding device 420 is molded according to the design information createdby the design device 410. In other words, the inspection unit 432determines whether the molded structure is a non-defective product. Inthis case, the inspection unit 432 reads out the design informationstored in the coordinate storage unit 431 and performs inspectionprocessing comparing the design information and the shape informationinput from the x-ray inspection apparatus 100. For the inspectionprocessing, the inspection unit 432 compares, for example, thecoordinates indicated by the design information and the correspondingcoordinates indicated by the shape information and determines that it isa non-defective product molded if the result of this inspectionprocessing shows that the coordinates of the design information and thecoordinates of the shape information match. When the coordinates of thedesign information and the corresponding coordinates of the shapeinformation do not match, the inspection unit 432 determines whether adifference between the coordinates is within a predetermined range anddetermines that it is a repairable defective product if it is within thepredetermined range.

When it determines that it is a repairable defective product, theinspection unit 432 outputs to the repair device 440 repair informationindicating a defective site and a repair amount. The defective site isthe coordinates of the shape information that do not match thecoordinates of the design information, and the repair amount is thedifference between the coordinates of the design information and thecoordinates of the shape information at the defective site. The repairdevice 440 performs repair processing for re-machining the defectivesite of the structure based on the input repair information. In therepair processing, the repair device 440 performs again processingsimilar to the molding processing performed by the molding device 420.

The processing performed by the structure manufacturing system 400 isdescribed with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 36.

In step S81, the design device 410 is used when the user designs thestructure and the design information relating to the shape of thestructure is created and stored by the design processing; the flow thenproceeds to step S82. Note that it is not limited to only the designinformation created by the design device 410; when design informationalready exists, inputting this design information to acquire the designinformation is also included in one aspect of the present invention. Instep S82, the molding device 420 creates and molds the structure basedon the design information by the molding processing; the flow thenproceeds to step S83. In step S83, the x-ray inspection apparatus 100performs the inspection processing to measure the shape of the structureand outputs the shape information; the flow then proceeds to step S84.

In step S84, the inspection unit 432 performs the inspection processingto compare the design information created by the design device 410 andthe shape information inspected and output by the x-ray inspectionapparatus 100; the flow then proceeds to step S85. In step S85, theinspection unit 432 determines based on the result of the inspectionprocessing whether the structure molded by the molding device 420 is anon-defective product. When the structure is a non-defective product,that is, when the coordinates of the design information and thecoordinates of the shape information match, an affirmative determinationis made in step S85; the processing then ends. When the structure is nota non-defective product, that is, when the coordinates of the designinformation and the coordinates of the shape information do not match orwhen coordinates that are not present in the design information aredetected, a negative determination is made in step S85; the flow thenproceeds to step S86.

At step S86, the inspection unit 432 determines whether the defectivesite of the structure is repairable. When the defective site isunrepairable, that is, when the difference between the coordinates ofthe design information and the coordinates of the shape informationexceeds the predetermined range at the defective site, a negativedetermination is made in step S86; the processing then ends. When thedefective site is repairable, that is, when the difference between thecoordinates of the design information and the coordinates of the shapeinformation is within the predetermined range at the defective site, anaffirmative determination is made in step S86; the flow then proceeds tostep S87. In this case, the inspection unit 432 outputs the repairinformation to the repair device 440. At step S87, the repair device 440performs the repair processing on the structure based on the inputrepair information; the flow then returns to step S83. Note that asdescribed above, the repair device 440 performs again processing similarto the molding processing performed by the molding device 420 in therepair processing.

According to the embodiments described above, the following actions andeffects are obtained.

(1) The sliced plane selection unit 563 calculates the respectiveamounts of displacement of the plurality of sliced regions selected bythe sliced plane candidates 701, 702, 703 for the grid convertedevaluation region 610 corresponding to the three-dimensional evaluationregion 600 set by the evaluation region setting unit 561, and selectsthe sliced plane 700 that is a sliced region from among the sliced planecandidates 701 to 703 based on the calculated amount of displacement.Therefore, because the sliced plane 700 that breaks thethree-dimensional shape of the evaluation region 600 set on the specimenS can be determined automatically based on the amount of displacement inthe y direction, compared to when the operator sets the sliced plane 700based on an experiential determination according to the evaluationregion 600, a more efficient sliced plane 700 from a viewpoint ofmeasurement time can be selected. Particularly, when measuring thespecimen S at a mass-production stage, efficiency improvement of themeasurement time contributes effectively to improved productivity.

(2) The sliced plane selection unit 563 calculates the respectiveamounts of displacement of the plurality of sliced regions selected bythe sliced plane candidates 701, 702, 703 for each of the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 corresponding to the plurality of evaluationregions 600, and selects the sliced plane 700 that is a sliced regionfrom among the sliced plane candidates 701 to 703 based on thecalculated amounts of displacement from each of the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 corresponding to the plurality of evaluationregions 600. Therefore, even when a plurality of evaluation regions 600are set on the specimen S, it is possible to select a sliced plane 700for the individual evaluation region 600 with favorable efficiency fromthe viewpoint of measurement.

(3) The sliced plane selection unit 563 selects from among the amountsof displacement of the plurality of sliced regions selected by thesliced plane candidates 701, 702, 703 the sliced plane 700 that is asliced region with the small movement amount in moving the cross sectionof the specimen S by the slit beam to detect the evaluation region 600.Therefore, because a sliced plane 700 with a small amount ofdisplacement can be selected, the measurement time of the evaluationregion 600 can be shortened. Because shortening the measurement timeenables early detection of a problem of the specimen S and an earlycountermeasure for the problem, particularly at the mass-productionstage, productivity can be improved.

(4) The grouping unit 565 classifies the grid converted evaluationregions 610 corresponding to the plurality of evaluation regions 600into the first group G1 where the first sliced plane 711 is selected andthe second group G2 where the second sliced plane 712 is selected. Theinspection unit 564 controls the x-ray source 2, the detector 4, and theplacement unit 3 to perform measurement by x-ray detection for each ofthe evaluation regions 600 corresponding to the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 belonging to the first group G1 and afterwardperform measurement by x-ray detection for each of the evaluationregions 600 corresponding to the grid converted evaluation regions 610belonging to the second group G2. Therefore, by classifying a pluralityof evaluation regions 600 extending in similar directions belong to thesame group, it can be prevented the amount of displacement of the slicedplane 700 from increasing due to an influence of evaluation regions 600extending in different directions and the measurement time fromincreasing, which enables shortening of the measurement time. Moreover,by measuring a plurality of evaluation regions 600 belonging to the samegroup before performing measurement for the plurality of evaluationregions 600 belonging to the another group, a change count of theplacement orientation of the specimen S can be kept minimal and anincrease in the measurement time, which accompanies a placementorientation change of the specimen S, can be suppressed.

(5) If a plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 are presentin the displaced position of at least one portion when the sliced plane700 is displaced in a grid converted evaluation region 610, the slicedplane selection unit 563 combines the mutual grid converted evaluationregions 610 into one grid converted evaluation region 611. Therefore,compared to selection of the sliced plane 700 and the sliced region 720for individual evaluation regions 600, more efficient selection of thesliced plane 700 and the sliced region 720 is possible. Moreover,because work requiring experience of combining a plurality of evaluationregions 600 into one in order to shorten the measurement time can beperformed automatically, convenience can be improved.

(6) The grouping unit 565 classifies the plurality of grid convertedevaluation regions 610 belonging to the first group G1 into the thirdgroup G3 and the fourth group G4 with different transmission imagemagnifications and classifies the plurality of grid converted evaluationregions 610 belonging to the second group G2 into the third group G3 andthe fourth group G4. The measuring unit 564 causes measurement to beperformed for each of the evaluation regions 600 corresponding to thegrid converted evaluation regions 610 belonging to the third group G3among the first group G1 and causes measurement to be performed for eachof the evaluation regions 600 corresponding to the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 belonging to the fourth group G4. Afterward, themeasuring unit 564 causes measurement to be performed for each of theevaluation regions 600 corresponding to the grid converted evaluationregions 610 belonging to the fourth group G4 among the second group G2and causes measurement to be performed for each of the evaluationregions 600 corresponding to the grid converted evaluation regions 610belonging to the third group G3. Therefore, even when a large evaluationregion 600 and a minute evaluation region 600 for measuring a cavity arein mixed distribution, grouping according to the displacement directionof the sliced plane 700 and the magnification of the transmission imageis possible and the transmission image can be acquired at a largemagnification from the minute evaluation region 600 while suppressing anincrease in the measurement time.

(7) The grouping unit 565 classifies the grouped evaluation regions 610corresponding to the plurality of evaluation regions 600 into the thirdgroup G3 and the fourth group G4 that measure at different transmissionimage magnifications. Therefore, even when a minute evaluation region600 for measuring a cavity is included in the plurality of evaluationregions 600, a transmission image with a large magnification can beobtained for the minute evaluation region 600 and generation conditionsand the like of the cavity can be analyzed in detail.

(8) The grouping unit 565 classifies the plurality of grid convertedevaluation regions 610 belonging to the third group G3 into the firstgroup G1 where the first sliced plane 711 is selected and the secondgroup G2 where the second sliced plane 712 is selected and classifiesthe plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 belonging to thefourth group G4 into the first group G1 where the first sliced plane 711is selected and the second group G2 where the second sliced plane 712 isselected. Therefore, even when a plurality of evaluation regions 600extending in different directions and a minute evaluation region 600 arein mixed distribution, acquiring the transmission image at a largemagnification for the minute evaluation region 600 is possible.

(9) The plurality of grid converted evaluation regions 610 include thegrid converted evaluation region 610 having the settable range R that isdisplaceable within the predetermined range, and the region resettingunit 567 displaces in the predetermined range the grid convertedevaluation region 610 having the settable range R so that both the gridconverted evaluation region 610 having the settable range R and theother grid converted evaluation regions 610 are included in the slicedplane 700 and resets the grid converted evaluation regions 610.Therefore, evaluation regions 600 present in separated positions can bemeasured in combination to improve working efficiency.

(10) The region resetting unit 567 displaces within the predeterminedrange the grid converted evaluation region 610 having the settable rangeR in order to increase positions where both the grid convertedevaluation region 610 having the settable range R and the grid convertedevaluation regions 610 not having the settable range R can be detectedby the selected sliced plane 700. Therefore, the amount of displacementof the sliced plane 700 can be decreased to shorten the measurementtime.

(11) The region resetting unit 567 moves within the predetermined rangethe grid converted evaluation region 610 having the settable range R sothat the grid converted evaluation region 610 having the settable rangeR and the grid converted evaluation regions 610 not having the settablerange R overlap. Therefore, because a plurality of evaluation regions600 can be measured at once in a measurement time required for oneevaluation region 600, working efficiency can be improved.

(12) The magnification calculation unit 568 uses the information of theevaluation region 600 set by the region setting unit 561 to calculatethe magnification when the evaluation regions 600 of the specimen S aremeasured. Therefore, because a plurality of evaluation regions 600 canbe measured at once at a high magnification, measurement can beperformed efficiently.

(13) The non-defectiveness determination unit 574 uses the transmissionimage of the x-ray transmitted through an evaluation region 600 of thespecimen S to determine the non-defectiveness of the evaluation region600, the region correction unit 575 corrects the evaluation region 600based on the determination result by the non-defectiveness determinationunit 574, and the display control unit 578 displays the image of thedata 681 for the corrected evaluation region corrected by the regioncorrecting unit 575. Therefore, because the operator can visuallyconfirm whether the current evaluation region 600 is suited as aposition for measuring an internal defect of the specimen S, thedetermination of whether to change the evaluation region 600 isfacilitated.

(14) The display control unit 578 displays the image of the data 681 forthe corrected evaluation region by varying the display mode of thecorrected location thereof and the display mode of the other locations.That is, because the changed location of the evaluation region 600becomes easy to confirm, the determination of whether to change theevaluation region 600 is facilitated.

(15) When the operation signal according to the employed operation bythe input operation unit 11 is input, the region resetting unit 577resets the data 681 for the corrected evaluation region to a portion ofthe specimen S as a new evaluation region 600. That is, the evaluationregion 600 being changed automatically contrary to an intent of theoperator can be suppressed.

(16) A new evaluation region 600 is additionally set on a portion of thespecimen S based on the shape information representing the shape of thebroad region of the specimen S acquired after measurement of theplurality of evaluation regions 600 of the specimen S. In this case, thenon-defectiveness determination unit 574 determines thenon-defectiveness of the regions other than the evaluation region 600using the broad region shape information and a region whosenon-defectiveness exceeds a predetermined tolerance among the regionsother than the evaluation region 600. The region addition unit 576additionally sets the region whose non-defectiveness exceeds thepredetermined tolerance as the new evaluation region 600. Therefore, alocation where an internal defect begins to appear in a location notpredicted initially can be measured as the evaluation region 600, whichcontributes to early detection of a problem of the specimen S.

(17) The data accumulation unit 58 stores the history data relating tothe evaluation region 600 reset by the region resetting unit 577, andthe display control unit 578 displays the image of the data 681 for thecorrected evaluation region superimposed on the image of the specimen Sbased on the history data of the evaluation region 600 stored in thedata accumulation unit 58. Therefore, because it is possible to confirmvisually how the shape of the evaluation region 600 is changed on thespecimen S, prediction of a future internal defect location and the likeare facilitated.

(18) The data accumulation unit 58 stores the history data relating tothe determination result of non-defectiveness by the non-defectivenessdetermination unit 574, and the region correction unit 575 creates thedata 681 for the corrected evaluation region based on the history dataof the determination result of non-defectiveness stored by the dataaccumulation unit 58. Therefore, grasping the type of internal defectthat a high tendency to occur in a certain evaluation region 600 isfacilitated.

(19) When the lattice grid 650 where the non-defectiveness of the gridconverted evaluation region 680 is determined by the non-defectivenessdetermination unit 574 to exceed the predetermined tolerance is presentin the outer peripheral portion of the grid converted evaluation region680, the region correction unit 575 generates the data 681 for thecorrected evaluation region so that the changed grid 656 scheduled to bechanged positioned around the additional lattice grid 655 in this outerperipheral portion is included in the grid converted evaluation region680. When the possibility of a defect is high in the outer peripheralportion of the evaluation region 600, because the possibility is high ofan influence thereof reaching outside the evaluation region 600, settingof the evaluation region 600 according to conditions of the defectbecomes possible.

(20) The region correction unit 575 deletes from the grid convertedevaluation region transmission image the lattice grid 650 where thenon-defectiveness of the grid converted evaluation region is determinedby the non-defectiveness determination unit 574 to be within thepredetermined tolerance. Therefore, by removing from the evaluationregion 600 a region where a possibility of a defect arising is low,performing unnecessary measurement is prevented.

(21) The data accumulation unit 58 stores the information relating tocorrection by the region correction unit 575. Therefore, the informationcan be shared between the operator who performs updating and newaddition of the evaluation region 600 and another operator.

(22) The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 of the structure manufacturingsystem 400 performs inspection processing for acquiring the shapeinformation of the structure created by the molding device 420 based onthe design processing by the design device 410, and the inspection unit432 of the control system 430 performs inspection processing forcomparing the shape information acquired in the inspection processingand the design information created in the design processing. Therefore,inspection of a defect in the structure and information about the insideof the structure can be acquired by a nondestructive inspection todetermine whether the structure is a non-defective product createdaccording to the design information, which contributes to qualitymanagement of the structure.

(23) The repair device 440 performs the repair processing that performsagain molding processing on the structure based on the comparison resultof the inspection processing. Therefore, processing similar to themolding processing can be applied again to the structure when thedefective portion of the structure is repairable, which contributes tomanufacturing a structure of a high quality approaching the designinformation.

Modifications such as below are also within the scope of the presentinvention, and it is also possible to combine one modified example or aplurality of modified examples with an embodiment described above.

(1) The x-ray inspection apparatus 100 may have an x-ray source thatemits a cone beam and a detector 4 that is not a line sensor and has astructure where pixels are arranged two-dimensionally. In this case, itis favorable to output a signal from the pixels lined up in a lineaccording to the sliced plane 700 from the detector 4. By such aconfiguration, the sliced plane 700 can be displaced in a directionother than the y direction.

(2) A configuration may be such that the time required to change theplacement orientation of the specimen S when switching from measurementof the first group G1 to measurement of the second group G2 can be inputfrom the input operation unit 11, and the sliced plane selection unit563 may select the sliced plane 700 by also taking into considerationthis input time. That is, the sliced plane selection unit 563 holds therequired time for changing the placement orientation of the specimen Sand, when adding the necessary time increases an overall measurementtime, selects the sliced plane 700 so that there is no accompanyingchange in the placement orientation of the specimen S.

(3) Instead of changing the evaluation region 600 after the adoptionoperation of the operator is performed, it is preferable to changeautomatically the evaluation region 600 may, which is set as the newevaluation region 600 and is stored in the data accumulation unit 58.

(4) In inspecting another specimen of a shape similar to that of thespecimen S, for example, a cylinder block of an engine of the samestructure but with a different exhaust amount, a similar casting scheme,or the like, a tolerance of non-defectiveness in an evaluation region ofthe other specimen may be used as the tolerance when determining thenon-defectiveness of the evaluation region 600 of the specimen S. As aresult, the evaluation region 600 can be optimized in a short period.Moreover, it may be such that the corrected evaluation region can bedisplayed using corrected historical information of the evaluationregion set on the other specimen of the similar shape. Particularly,this facilitates determination by the operator concerning the validityof the corrected evaluation region presented by the evaluation regioncorrection unit.

(5) Based on the history data of the setting value of the non-defectlevel, history data may be displayed for a lattice grid 650 where it isdetermined even once over a plurality of measurements that there is ahigh possibility of producing a defect. Alternatively, the history dataof the lattice grid 650 may also be displayed for a lattice grid 650whose non-defect level is worsened over time or whose non-defect levelis indicated a value near the threshold for a long period although thenon-defect level is not worsened.

(6) The display control unit 578 may display history data of thedetermination result of non-defectiveness stored in the dataaccumulation unit 58 and a replacement time of the mold used whenmanufacturing the specimen S. In this case, it is favorable to determinethat degradation has occurred in the mold of the specimen S when cavitygeneration increases over time to exceed a predetermined constant anddisplay on the display monitor 6 that it is time to replace the mold.

(7) A size of the lattice grid 650 set on a surface model generated fromthe data acquired in the full scan can be set to be smaller than a sizeof the lattice grid 650 at the time of the partial scan. As a result, aprocessing load required at the time of the partial scan can be reducedand, because information does not become excessive, the operator canreadily make various types of determinations (updating the evaluationregion 600 and the like) from the display monitor 6.

Conversely, because an information amount of the data obtained in thefull scan increases to be more than that of the partial scan, theoperator can inspect in detail a cause of a defect occurring.

(8) The size of the lattice grid 650 may be made changeable with eachmeasurement. However, a size of the largest lattice grid 650 ispreferably a size that is the least common multiple of the set sizes ofthe other lattice grids 650. Particularly, in the full scan, margins areanticipated in measurement and inspection time. In such a case, it ispreferable to set a lattice grid 650 smaller than the lattice grid 650set at the time of inspection by the partial scan. Moreover, regardlessof a size of the scanning range, it is preferable for the operator to beable to set the size of the lattice grid 650 with each measurement. Notethat the smaller the size of the lattice grid size 650 is made, the morea precision of defective product prediction can be increased wherebyinformation relating to positional distribution of the non-defect levelis acquired in detail.

(9) The shape of the lattice grid 650 is not limited to a cube. Forexample, with an article of a hollow shape such as a blade portion of aturbine blade, a transmission case, or a differential case, pitches ofthe lattice grid 650 necessary for inspection differ in a surfacedirection and a thickness direction of the structure. There is no needto make the lattice grid 650 very small in the surface direction.Meanwhile, there is a need to make the pitch of the lattice grid 650small in the thickness direction. With such an article, it is preferableto set a lattice grid of a rectangular-parallelepiped shape.

A function of a portion of the inspection processing device 1 in theembodiments described above or the inspection processing device 1 in themodified examples, for example, the inspection control unit 56 or theinspection analysis unit 57, may be realized by a computer. In thiscase, this may be realized by recording a program for realizing thiscontrol function on a recording medium that can be read by a computerand causing a computer system to read and execute the program recordedon the recording medium relating to the control described above. Notethat a “computer system” referred to here includes an OS (operatingsystem) and hardware such as a peripheral. Moreover, a “recording mediumthat can be read by a computer” refers to a portable recording mediumsuch as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, or amemory card or a storage device such as a hard drive that is built inwith the computer system. Moreover, the “recording medium that can beread by a computer” may also include a medium that dynamically holds theprogram for a short time such as a communication line when sending theprogram via a network such as the Internet or a communication line suchas a phone line or, a medium that holds the program for a certain amountof time such as volatile memory inside the computer system serving as aserver or a client in this case. Moreover, the program above may be forrealizing a portion of the function described above; the functiondescribed above may be realized by a combination with a program alreadyrecorded in the computer system.

Furthermore, when being applied in a personal computer or the like, theprogram relating to the control described above can be provided througha recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a data signal such as theInternet. FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating the above. A personalcomputer 950 receives the program provided via a CD-ROM 953. Moreover,the personal computer 950 has a connection function with a communicationline 951. A computer 952 is a server computer that provides the aboveprogram and stores the program in a recording medium such as a harddisk. The communication line 951 is a communication line, such as theInternet or personal-computer communication; a dedicated communicationline; or the like. The computer 952 reads out the program using the harddisk and sends the program to the personal computer 950 via thecommunication line 951. That is, the program is conveyed by a carrierwave as a data signal and sent via the communication line 951. In thismanner, the program can be provided as a computer-program product thatcan be read by a computer in various forms such as a recording medium ora carrier wave.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above,and various modifications may be made without departing from the spiritof the present invention. Other embodiments that embody the technicalconcepts of the present invention are also included within the scope ofthe present invention.

Reference Signs List

-   1 Inspection processing device-   2 X-ray source-   3 Placement unit-   4 Detector-   5 Control device-   6 Display monitor-   36 Manipulator unit-   56 Inspection Control unit-   57 Inspection Analysis unit-   58 Data Accumulation unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. A measurement processing method,comprising: setting an evaluation region of a specimen; calculating, foreach of a plurality of lattice grids, a plurality of differentnon-defective factors regarding the specimen from shape informationacquired based upon a transmission image of x-ray that has transmittedthe specimen; and determining non-defectiveness of the evaluation regionbased upon the calculated plurality of different non-defectivenessfactors for each of the plurality of lattice grids.
 2. The measurementprocessing method according to claim 1, wherein the non-defectiveness ofthe evaluation region is based upon a possibility of a defect to beoccurred in the specimen.
 3. The measurement processing method accordingto claim 1, wherein the non-defectiveness factor is a factor based uponan internal defect of the specimen.
 4. The measurement processing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the non-defectiveness factor is ratio ofan internal defect per unit volume.
 5. The measurement processing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the non-defectiveness factor is distancebetween an internal defect and a surface of the specimen.
 6. Themeasurement processing method according to claim 1, wherein thenon-defectiveness factor is based upon the shape information acquiredbased upon transmission images of x-ray that has transmitted a pluralityof specimens.
 7. The measurement processing method according to claim 1,wherein evaluating the non-defectiveness of the evaluation region byweighting the calculated plurality of different non-defectivenessfactors.
 8. The measurement processing method according to claim 1,further comprising displaying the non-defectiveness of the evaluationregion in correspondence with a display of the evaluation region.
 9. Themeasurement processing method according to claim 1, further comprisingcorrecting the evaluation region based upon the non-defectiveness of theevaluation region.
 10. The measurement processing method according toclaim 1, wherein the evaluation region is set in a site of the specimen.11. The measurement processing method according to claim 1, wherein theevaluation region is set based upon a function of the site of thespecimen.
 12. The measurement processing method according to claim 1,further comprising storing history data regarding determination resultsof the non-defectiveness.
 13. The measurement processing methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: setting the non-defectivenessof the lattice grid based upon the calculated plurality of differentnon-defective factors for the same lattice grid; calculating an averageof the non-defectiveness in the same lattice grid, a standard deviationof the non-defectiveness in the same lattice grid or a ratio of changein time of the non-defectiveness in the same lattice grid as anevaluation coefficient; and changing the evaluation region when theevaluation coefficient is determined to be greater than or equal to athreshold.
 14. A measurement processing device, comprising: acalculation unit that calculates, for each of a plurality of latticegrids, a plurality of different non-defective factors regarding aspecimen from shape information acquired based upon a transmission imageof x-ray that has transmitted the specimen; and a determination unitthat determines non-defectiveness of an evaluation region based upon thecalculated plurality of different non-defectiveness factors for each ofthe plurality of lattice grids.
 15. A method for manufacturingstructures, comprising: creating design information regarding the shapeof a structure; creating the structure on the basis of the designinformation; acquiring shape information by measuring the shape of thecreated structure by using the measurement processing device accordingto claim 14; and comparing the acquired shape information and the designinformation.
 16. An x-ray inspection apparatus, comprising: a settingunit that sets an evaluation region on a partial region of a specimen; acalculation unit that calculates, for each of a plurality of latticegrids, a plurality of different non-defective factors regarding thespecimen from shape information acquired based upon a transmission imageof x-ray that has transmitted the specimen; and a determination unitthat determines non-defectiveness of the evaluation region based uponthe calculated plurality of different non-defectiveness factors for eachof the plurality of lattice grids.